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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/23999974">Undertale Copy #88 (V2.0)</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/KimberlyLikesCherries/pseuds/KimberlyLikesCherries'>KimberlyLikesCherries</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>The Path to Yellow [4]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Undertale</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>DestructiveDeath - Freeform, Error: Accidental Stalker of Worlds, Error: Forced God of Destruction, GlitchyDeath - Freeform, HEY READ THE BEGINNING CHAPTER NOTE IN CHAPTER 20, Harrish6 inspired, He sees you when your sleeping, IF YOU COMPLAIN THAT YOU WEREN'T WARNED THEN I WILL PUBLICLY SHAME YOU, It’s mostly you living vicariously through 88, Marlo’s mom is a Karen in top form, Marlo’s mom turns out to be the source of his evil, Papyrus' nickname is Otto, Strings starts a neutrality club, Woops, You are Sans, and a count down, frick what other tags did I have?, he knows when your awake, no ships for awhile, papyrus is a child, remake!, vaguely, whats that? Hidden trauma?, what’s this? Plot?</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-05-04</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-08-07</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-02 21:48:39</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>25</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>48,351</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/23999974</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/KimberlyLikesCherries/pseuds/KimberlyLikesCherries</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>We've all heard of that cliche trope where the main character is suddenly thrown into a whole new world that they've read about or watched; so waking up in that exact situation with a very familiar skeleton monster calling you brother wasn't completely out of left field.</p><p>Except it was, and this isn't normal Undertale- This is your Undertale. Worse yet, you never finished this world, and that's caught someone's attention.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Error/Reaper, Horror/Dust, Nightmare/88/Dream, Sans/Reader, killer/cross, sans/sans</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>The Path to Yellow [4]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1706509</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>1301</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>437</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Chapter 1</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Shameless reuse of first chapter is shameless.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>In a room, leaning comfortably against a windowsill and typing on a laptop, sat a young adult surrounded by pillows. It was raining heavily outside, the perfect time to focus on a story they had been wanting to type up for awhile now; in fact, it was probably the last chance they’d get to type this up before spring break ended and essays became their whole life again.</p><p>But right now, in this small moment, this young adult was immersed in the plot reveal they were typing up as the main character fought against their current adversary. Thunder boomed around the author, rain pounded against the roof, but it was the strange sound of the house powering down that brought them out of their immersion.</p><p>“What? A power outage?” They wondered, looking around their messy room, “Welp, good thing I’ve been charging my laptop this whole time...oh.” They couldn’t see the keys.</p><p>The lamp was off, and the natural light of the heavily covered afternoon sun made it hard to tell what was an N or an M on the keyboard.</p><p>“Damn.” The author sighed. They had just gotten to the good part; how was the author going to remember what is supposed to happen if they can’t type it up?</p><p>The author reluctantly looked over to their phone, which sat innocently on the TV stand charging: or, well, had been charging anyway. They could use it while they waited for the power to come back, something the author had done many times before, but…</p><p>“I really don’t want to see it right now.” They muttered, thinking of their other story.</p><p>It was a project that they had been working on as a gift to their friend, before both parties had a falling out; now the author could barely look at it without getting mopey and rereading it to relive the feelings they’d had while they typed it up.</p><p>The whole thing had been made with love; every word meant to brighten a day, every character meant to reassure- A feel good story, fluffy and with lots of hurt/comfort. Now it felt like a letter from the past to themselves, and the author really didn’t care to have their own edited advice apply to them in this instance.</p><p>So they avoided it, left it to gather digital dust while they tried to move on with their life; until now.</p><p>“Pffft, it’s not a big deal; I just won’t look at it.” they reassured themselves as they got off the bed, laptop safely moved to the side. The bed protested under their shifting weight and a muffled thump came from the old cream carpet, the sounds loud in the absence of the familiar zing of electricity and obnoxious click clack of keys, but the rain prattled on and the storm still raged above.</p><p>The author hesitated for a second, anxiety screaming, but sucked it up and grabbed the phone.</p><p>“Alright. Notes, notes, notes.” They thought, clicking the folder and shuffling to the right page the app sat in. They clicked on the app and brought their thumb up to press “New Note”- but they hesitated, eyes caught on the title of that dreaded story.</p><p>“The Path to Yellow,” They read out loud, then scoffed, “Really, what was I thinking?” But they knew exactly what they’d been thinking. Yellow was their friends favorite color, and one the author associated with happy emotions; it only made sense that a story made for a friend be named with them in mind.</p><p>They missed their friend more and more everyday, and this story was probably the closest the author could get to them at this point. Would it really be so bad to read the story one more time?</p><p>Forgetting the reason they had even grabbed their phone in the first place, the author tapped the title and opened the note.</p><p>BANG!</p><p>A large flash of light filled the room, sparks flying as the old cream carpet muffled a large thump.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Chapter 2</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>In which the Cult of Papyrus finally gets some good fucking food.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“Brother! Brother wake up! You promised to take me for Nice Cream today!”</p><p>“Five more minutes Pap.” A voice groaned from the other side of the door. “Pap” took exception to that and threw open the door, which slammed against the wall with a loud BANG.</p><p>“NYEEEEH!” He screeched, his only warning before Papyrus made a running leap for the lump in the bed sheets.</p><p>“Oof!” Except when he landed there was a distinct lack of brother under him, and Papyrus had only a second to realize his older brother’s plan when a bony pair of hands lifted the little bones high into the air, laughing as he whined and wiggled.</p><p>“That’s what you get for trying to squish your big bro, Papyrus!”</p><p>“Shortcuts are cheating!”</p><p>“All's fair in love and Nice Cream, bro.” Sans smugly grinned.</p><p>“Nyeh!” responded the offended wiggle worm.</p><p>Sans huffed, amused, “Alright, alright. Go put on your jacket and I’ll be right down.”</p><p>He sat his little brother on the bed and laughed when Papyrus launched off it with a war cry, running out the room and slamming the door closed behind him. </p><p>That was twice now; he was going to have to talk to Papyrus about slamming doors again.</p><p>Sans wandered to the dresser and pulled the top drawer open, completely ignoring the pile of yellow and black fabric beside it.</p><p>“What color do I want today?” He asked sarcastically, “Blue? Green? Purple looks good.”</p><p>Sans threw his night clothes into the fabric pile and put on the purple sweater, then a random pair of black shorts and sweatpants he had in mass quantities. He didn’t even bother looking in the mirror before leaving his room, already knowing what he’d see.</p><p>“Papyrus!” he called, watching his brother hop up and down from his spot on the landing, “That doesn’t look very cold weatherly.”</p><p>Papyrus stopped jumping and looked back up to his brother.</p><p>“I can’t get the scarf.” He pouted with his arms crossed standing next to the coat rack. Sans wished he had a camera or something, this would make great blackmail material when his brother got older and had a datemate to impress.</p><p>Sans took a shortcut down to Papyrus and grabbed the red scarf off the hook. Just as he started to wind the scarf around his brother’s neck, Papyrus pointed at his sweater.</p><p>“Sans! Your shirt is changing colors again!” He shouted excitedly.</p><p>Sans looked down and, sure enough, his sweater was halfway through dying itself a soft sunshine yellow; he wasn’t surprised though.</p><p>“Hey, would you look at that.” He humored, winding the scarf playfully around his brother’s head, “Bet you can’t guess why.”</p><p>Papyrus squinted past the red fabric in his face and patted Sans’ chest.</p><p>“It’s not paint.” He wondered out loud. Sans smirked and agreed.</p><p>“Nope, no paint here.”</p><p>“Dye?”</p><p>“Nope.” Sans denied. Finished with the scarf, he moved on to shoes; grabbing his bro’s pair from the shoe rack and kneeling down to help Papyrus put them on.</p><p>“Crayon!”</p><p>“Pfft! Crayon? How does that work?” He asked. Okay! shoes are on, time to grab his own stuff, He thought, finally standing and grabbing his own jacket.</p><p>“Then what is it?!” Papyrus squeaked, taking his brother’s hand as Sans opened the front door. Sans let Papyrus walk out first before turning and locking the door behind him. He didn’t have to- Snowdin was a pretty safe place like that- but some habits from his life before were still around and Sans couldn’t bring himself to stop all of them.</p><p>Sans turned back and stared at his bro with a huge (probably rather evil looking) grin.</p><p>“No.” His brother denied, knowing exactly what was coming.</p><p>“Aww, come on bro, it’s so obvious!” Sans teased.</p><p>“No!” Papyrus insisted, making him smile wider.</p><p>“It’s-”</p><p>“NO!”</p><p>“Maaaagic~”</p><p>Papyrus let out a loud ‘NYEH’ of despair and fell back into the snow, and Sans couldn’t help but laugh big, obnoxious snorts and giggles.</p><p>“B-bro! Bro come on, w-we gotta- ha!- get the-” Sans snorted, then quickly lifted a hand to try and stop the sound, “-Nice c-cream!”</p><p>His little brother whined and flailed around in his Papyrus shaped snow angel, only making Sans laugh harder.</p><p>“O-okay, I guess I’m going- hehe!- alone!” And then Sans started off on his own.</p><p>“What- Sans?” Papyrus called, “Sans, wait! Brother, I’m stuck!”<br/>
——</p><p>BB, the kind bunny who sold Nice Cream, always took his cart to the strangest places. He was never in the same place twice either, so Sans and Papyrus had long since made a game of finding the wanderer.</p><p>The game was pretty simple; whoever spotted him first got bragging rights as the best Sentry in town. Papyrus always lost, but it wasn’t without trying.</p><p>It bothered Sans that his little brother couldn’t ever seem to spot the vendor, even when the only thing between them and BB was the vast expanse of snow covered ground.</p><p>Today was the same, so Sans decided some questions were in order.</p><p>“Hey bro?” </p><p>“Yes brother?” Papyrus replied from his brother’s shoulders.</p><p>“I think I forgot what color fur BB is, do you remember?” </p><p>Papyrus hummed, going into a thinking pose.</p><p>“I think it was...” Papyrus looked left and right, slightly frustrated, “Uh...That color!”</p><p>Sans looked up to see which way his little brother was pointing then followed the small hands direction.</p><p>Sans frowned thoughtfully, head tilting, “The tree?”</p><p>Papyrus smiled, “Mhm! Except lighter.”</p><p>“I see, I see.” Sans nodded, “Hey Papyrus, I’ve got a silly question for yah.”</p><p>Papyrus crossed his arms on Sans skull and laid his head on them, giggling, “Did you forget what BB stands for again?”</p><p>Sans exaggerated an offended huff, “I asked once! Once!”</p><p>Papyrus’ giggles bounced off the trees around them; Sans smiled with content, enjoying this small moment while he could.</p><p>Sans smile fell a little, “But no, bro. I was actually going to ask what color my sweater is.”</p><p>“Don’t you know?” His brother wondered.</p><p>“Weeeeell, see, I sorta forgot.” </p><p>“Brother!” Papyrus grinned, “Why are you so forgetful?”</p><p>“Why are you so adorable?” Sans shot back; Papyrus puffed up with pride, face glowing orange.</p><p>“I’m just that cool!” He boasted, then pointed to the ground, “And that’s what color your sweater is, brother.”</p><p>Sans looked down at the snow, and his smile faltered.</p><p>Uh, well, turns out his little bones might be color blind; that answers a lot.</p><p>“Sans?” Papyrus asked tentatively, “Is it not the right color?”</p><p>Sans stopped walking, surprised. He looked up to Papyrus’ face as best he could.</p><p>“What makes you think it’s not?” He asked.</p><p>Papyrus frowned and wrapped his arms around Sans’ neck vertebrae, laying his cheek down on the top of his skull in a makeshift hug.</p><p>“The other kids in class keep saying that my colors are wrong.” He admitted quietly.</p><p>The older skeleton took that in for a moment before resuming walking.</p><p>“Are they mean about it?” </p><p>Papyrus nodded against his head, “Sometimes. Mostly the older kids though.”</p><p>“The same older kids who got held back a grade?” Sans clarified.</p><p>“Mhm. There’s this one kid named Marlo who likes to push me when we’re playing.”</p><p>“I see,” Sans did his best not to tense, knowing Papyrus would clam up if he thought his big brother was upset, “Did you tell Ms. Faun?”</p><p>Papyrus huffed and pouted, “She said she’d take care of it, but all she did was tell his dad; Marlo said his dad doesn’t care as long as no one gets really hurt.”</p><p>Oh-ho-ho, i s  t h a t  s o ?</p><p>Sans gritted his teeth, eye lights dead in his sockets. Seems he would be having words the next parent-teacher conference- if his patience lasted that long; but let’s be honest here, Sans patience was pretty short where Papyrus’ safety was concerned.</p><p>“Brother, are you going to chew them out?” Papyrus asked.</p><p>“Oh hey! Is that BB?” Sans sidelined, facing the long snow covered path where BB’s blue fur stood out as the only real color for ages around.</p><p>Papyrus gasped and waved frantically, “BB! BEEBEE!”</p><p>BB turned and gasped excitedly, “PAPYRUS! MY FAVORITE LITTLE REGULAR!”</p><p>Sans laughed and walked faster, “Hello, BB! How are you?”</p><p>The bunny monsters smile was enormous, a mix of pride and glee, “All the better now that my two favorite customers have shown up! What’ll it be today?”</p><p>Sans finally stood before the mobile fridge and looked through the glass doors to the frozen goodies inside.</p><p>“I don’t know, what’ll it be today Paps?”</p><p>“Mmm,” The little bones hummed thoughtfully before declaring, “Strawberry!”</p><p>BB laughed and fetched two pink pops from the freezer, “That’ll be 30g, my friends.”</p><p>“Ugh, do I have to?” Sans playfully complained.</p><p>“Yes!!” Papyrus screeched to which BB laughed, used to this song and dance by now.</p><p>“But Papyrussss, it’s so much money! I’m gonna go broke!” Sans whined, even while he dug up the coins from his pocket.</p><p>“No you won’t!” His brother denied, tapping his fist angrily (but gently) on the top of Sans’ skull.</p><p>Sans did his best to hide his laughter.</p><p>“But I will!” Sans shot a smile at BB and placed the coins carefully on the glass surface.</p><p>Sans made a show of turning his pockets inside out, “Look, I’ve got nothing left! Just lint!”</p><p>Papyrus let out a confused “NYEH?!” and scrambled down off his brother’s shoulders, which Sans let him do with a careful socket trained on him. Once he hit the snow, Papyrus was digging into Sans’ pockets himself.</p><p>“Oh no!” The little bones cried when no more coins revealed themselves, “We have enough for two Nice Creams right?!” </p><p>BB smiled down at the frantic child and offered the pink pops to him, “Don’t worry, your big brother here had enough; here.”</p><p>Papyrus practically sparkled and carefully took the offered sweets. Once they were safely in his small hands, the skeleton took off back the way they came.</p><p>“Ah- PAPYRUS! WHERE ARE YOU GOING?!”</p><p>“GRYFTMAS TREE!” He called back. Sans sighed and rubbed the back of his neck vertebrae.</p><p>“Man, that kid...BE CAREFUL OKAY?!”</p><p>All he got back was a distant “NYEH!”</p><p>BB giggled, “He’s certainly seems happy today.”</p><p>Sans huffed through a smile, “He better be, he took off with my Nice Cream.”</p><p>Sans turned to the bunny monster, “But really, how have you been doing?”</p><p>BB’s ears fell and he sighed.</p><p>“I can’t seem to find a steady stream of customers, no matter where I go.” He said, “I’m starting to think I’m not cut out for this.”</p><p>Sans frowned, “I’m sorry to hear that. Have you tried next to Snowed Inn?”</p><p>BB perked up, “Actually, now that I think of it? I don’t believe I have!”</p><p>Sans tilted his head with a smile, “Might be worth a shot then. Well, I best be off; can’t leave the little brother alone for too long.”</p><p>BB nodded, beaming with renewed hope, “Hope be with you, friend!”</p><p>“Hope be with you too.” </p><p>Sans walked off down the path and took a turn, taking a shortcut into town. </p><p>Today was Saturday, and this big brother planned to spend every spare moment with his little brother before work called him away again.</p><p>Papyrus always chose the same place to hang out every time they did this; a bench in front of Grillby’s watching the busy center of town. They’d sit there for hours, enjoying their frozen treat and talking about everything under the sun- or, well, cave.</p><p>Occasionally people stopped to talk to them, neighbors and friends alike asking about their day and what they were up to. Sans let Papyrus do most of the talking, as he himself wasn’t all that in the mood at the moment- He’d caught sight of Ms. Faun talking to one of the Librarians through a Library window, and Sans mood had plummeted quickly.</p><p>Papyrus waved goodbye to Bear and turned to his brother, about to say something before seeing Sans’ expression.</p><p>“Sans? Are you okay?” He asked quietly, poking his arm.</p><p>Sans blinked and looked down at him, expression clearing, “What? Oh, yeah, I’m good. I was just thinking.” </p><p>Papyrus glanced over to where his brother had been looking but couldn’t figure out what he’d been staring at.</p><p>Papyrus pouted and looked back up at Sans, “Are you lying?”</p><p>“Ha! Lying? To you? Never!” Sans laughed, patting the smaller skeletons skull.</p><p>Papyrus smiled, leaning into the touch. He wasn’t sure if he believed the older skeleton, but he couldn’t see a reason why so he let it go.</p><p>“So are you ready to go bro? It’s almost lunch time.” </p><p>Papyrus jumped off the bench quickly, crying “Food!” loudly with his hands in the air. </p><p>“I’ll take that as a yes.” Sans laughed.</p><p>“Food, food, food!” Papyrus sang loudly, “Food, food, foooooood!”</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Chapter 3</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Nightmare can never escape the mom status.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Anyone who had ever seen Nightmare: the Guardian of Negativity knew the skeleton as intimidating, cruel, possibly completely off his rocker, and liberally covered in goop. Constantly.</p><p>Anyone who’d ever worked with him knew these things to be true, but what the populous of the Multiverse didn’t know was that the corrupted skeleton in fact did have a softer side.</p><p>Deep, deep down.</p><p><strong>“Killer, if you don’t stop running around holding the knife like that, I’ll trip you.”</strong> Said skeleton threatened.</p><p>Very deep down.</p><p>Killer was Nightmare’s most loyal-</p><p>The homicidal skeleton ignored his boss, having too much fun chasing Cross around the room. It just so happened that this room was also the dark Guardian’s study, and Nightmare was trying to plan out the next most strategic location to attack; and Killer was distracting him.</p><p>As promised, when Killer got within range Nightmare swiped out at the homicidal Sans’ feet with a tendril, tripping him.</p><p>-and most reckless subordinate.</p><p>Killer fell flat on his face, knife skidding away some distance as Cross darted out of the room with a victorious laugh.</p><p>Killer let out a high pitched whine into the carpet.</p><p><strong>“I did warn you,”</strong> Nightmare reminded him, <strong>“It’s not my fault you didn’t take it seriously.”</strong></p><p>Killer pushed himself up onto his elbows, leaning his skull on his hand and looking up at Nightmare with a pout.</p><p>“But Boss, we’re so bored!” He rolled onto his back and did a weird flail with his limbs, “We haven’t fought anyone in weeks!”</p><p><strong>“And if you keep disturbing me while I plan out our next move, it will be longer.”</strong> Nightmare sighed, pulling a small stack of paper over to him and thumbing through it.</p><p>“Ugh, fiiine.” Killer huffed, swinging himself up with a hop and landing cleanly on his feet. He grabbed his knife and walked to the dark, heavy wooden door of the study, reached out to open it; only for it to burst open and slam hard onto his face.</p><p>Killer squeaked and grasped at his face, falling once again onto the soft carpet of the study and rolling around in pain.</p><p>“Fuck, fuck, fuck!” He muttered, not that the newcomer cared.</p><p>Dust was Nightmare’s third subordinate; smart, determined, and knack for holding grudges. He also had a really bad issue with not always listening to Nightmare when he got “In The Zone.”</p><p>“Boss, Horror says we have three days before food goes on rations.” The genocidal skeleton informed.</p><p>Nightmare sighed and rubbed the space between his sockets, <strong>“Let him know that as soon as I finish planning our next raid we will go out and gather supplies, provided that you all give me time to do so in peace.”</strong></p><p>Dust wisely backed out of the room, closing the door behind him.</p><p>Killer was left to suffer on the floor.</p><p>Nightmare’s third subordinate had this unusual relationship with the corrupted skeleton’s second subordinate, Horror.</p><p>See, Killer and Cross thought they were very clever in hiding their relationship, but the reality was that Nightmare could feel their disturbingly positive emotions from across the manor while they made out in a closet.</p><p>How shameful; atleast find an actual room or something! What if someone walked in on you?!</p><p>However, Dust and Horror seemed to dance around each other. Nightmare knew they felt for each other, but Dust was completely oblivious to it and kept accidentally friend zoning the poor famine skeleton- confusing the ever loving hell out of Horror in the process just as he was about to confess for the Nth time.</p><p>So they just wound up going in circles around each other all day and- ugh- pining.</p><p>Frankly, it was disgusting.</p><p>Meanwhile, Horror and Cross has reached some sort of understanding and got along fairly well. Cross finds food during raids, and Horror won’t try to murder him for that almost back stabbing awhile back.</p><p>Contrarily, Killer and Dust didn’t really have much of a relationship anymore.</p><p>They had been good friends at one point, one could even go so far as to say they were two brothers on a never ending hunt for extra LV; but Dust was still fairly bitter over Cross’s past actions, and Killer refused to let Dust take his anger out on his boyfriend. Or murder him.</p><p>To be fair, Nightmare wouldn’t have let Dust murder Cross either. As much as it pained him to admit it, the dark guardian needed his team to work together, and work together well. Infighting could not be allowed without close supervision.</p><p>(Don’t let him fool you. That’s just Edgy Tsundere Skeleton for, “Somehow I care, and I hate it.”)</p><p>Finally Killer gathered himself enough to leave the room; eye sockets watering and what looks to be the beginnings of a decently sized bruise in the middle of his face. Nightmare wasn’t worried however; Cross would get that healed up in no time.</p><p>The minute the door closed shut, Nightmare sighed and leaned back into his chair.</p><p><strong>“Why must I put up with the antics of children?”</strong> He muttered to himself, sockets shut.</p><p>
  <strong>“I imagine it has-as-as something to do with the fact that they’re all short a couple of straws.”</strong>
</p><p>Nightmare cursed his luck. It was beginning to look like he’d never finish his work today.</p><p><strong>“Error, what a delightful surprise.”</strong> He offered sarcastically, sockets opening, <strong>“What could I do for you today?”</strong></p><p><strong>“Dropping the tone would be a nice s-s-start.”</strong> Error huffed, arms crossed over his chest.</p><p>The Destroyer was a strange, strange individual. Awhile back Nightmare could have told you without a single doubt that Error was the definition of Chaotic Evil.</p><p>The glitch had worn his title like a finely fitted tuxedo and sparked fear even in the Guardian of Negativity; but lately it seemed Error had outgrown his old suit, and was desperately trying to find his place in the multiverse.</p><p>Nightmare had offered the glitch a place with him and his, but Error seemed to have settled on a sort of Ally position; like an outside contractor who worked with them when it was convenient for him- or he got bored.</p><p>Nightmare took a calming breath, <strong>“I apologize, it’s been a long day.”</strong></p><p>
  <strong>“Let me guess, kids get-get-getting bored too?”</strong>
</p><p><strong>“For the last time,”</strong> Nightmare hissed, <strong>“I am not their mother.”</strong></p><p>Error laughed, <strong>“Heh! Ke-Ke-Keep telling yourself that pal.”</strong></p><p>The glitch went and grabbed a chair from against the wall, bringing it over to the front of the paper infested desk and sitting down on it.</p><p><strong>“B-B-But in all seriousness,”</strong> Error frowned, <strong>“I need to know if you’ve heard anything lately from those damn S-S-Star Sans and that Council of theirs.”</strong></p><p><strong>“Why?”</strong> Nightmare asked, scanning through a report Cross had made on a newer Underfell Copy he’d scouted, <strong>“Are they giving you more trouble than usual?”</strong></p><p>
  <strong>“I had ten different Sans’ ambush me in a brand new AU a week ago. T-T-The only reason I’m not dead is because of Fate and it’s determination not to let me die.”</strong>
</p><p>Nightmare’s skull shot up, report slipping through his fingers and smacking back down onto the desk.</p><p>Bewildered, Nightmare shook his head, <strong>“What did you just say?”</strong></p><p>Error huffed, <strong>“I said a lot, y-y-you’re going to be more specific.”</strong></p><p>Nightmare blinked and nodded, <strong>“Fair enough. Preferably, I’d like it if you went to the part where you got ambushed by the Light Council.”</strong></p><p>
  <strong>“Like I sa-sa-said; the damn Squid made a new AU, and when I went to destroy it- because let’s face it, who needs a flying pig AU- they-ey-ey were waiting for me. It sucked.”</strong>
</p><p>There was...frankly an alarming amount of things wrong with what he just heard, but Nightmare did his best to focus his wary mind on the most important part of this report.</p><p><strong>“So those hypocrites finally showed their true colors,”</strong> he murmured, <strong>“It only took half a thousand years.”</strong></p><p>
  <strong>“Yup.”</strong>
</p><p><strong>“Unfortunately I have not heard even a peep out of my brother in weeks, let alone anything from the Light Council,”</strong> Nightmare genuinely regretted to inform, <strong>“So what will you do now?”</strong></p><p>Error grimaced, <strong>“B-B-Best I can do is hang around in the Anti Void and scout around. Maybe-e-e if I’m lucky, I’ll find a hole in the Code Locks around Ink’s stupid Doodle Sphere.”</strong></p><p>Sensing the end of his allies visit, Nightmare was quick to get to his next point.</p><p><strong>“If you need help, don’t hesitate to call upon us Error. You have helped us a great many times, it would be the least we could do.”</strong> He offered.</p><p>Error gave him a searching look before nodding, <strong>“I’ll remember tha-a-at.”</strong></p><p>The Destroyer of Worlds swiped out a hand to the side and opened a constantly shifting hole into an endless white, barely glancing at it before walking right through.</p><p>The Guardian groaned and slumped in his chair. That skeleton really didn’t know the first thing about formalities, did he?</p><p>Cross stuck his head through the door.</p><p>“Hey boss! Can we go grab some take out?”</p><p>Nightmare could have screamed.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Chapter 4</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Sans is many things, but Nice was always optional.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Papyrus woke up rather suddenly, having heard something loud enough to bring him out of sleep.</p><p>“Mmm?” He hummed, rubbing a socket. Exhausted, he looked over to his alarm clock to check the time.</p><p>Bright, blocky numbers told him is was 12:47am.</p><p>From the wall in front of him, he heard the sound again; a muffled cry he wouldn’t have heard had he been any deeper of a sleeper.</p><p>Oh no, Papyrus thought, carefully stumbling out of bed. Brother was having a nightmare again.</p><p>Papyrus quietly padded across the room, opening his door with hardly a sound before walking down the hall to the last room on the floor. </p><p>The hall stretched out before him, dark and long; his brother’s door of course being the last door at the end of the hall.</p><p>Papyrus hesitated, but pushed himself out of his room and closed the door behind him. His brother needed him, he refused to be scared!</p><p>His feet tapped loudly against the floor, an unfortunate side effect of being made of bone. The hall was dark, not a single light to guide him through the shadowed corridor. </p><p>His brother’s cries were just audible enough to echo down the hall; bouncing off the walls and twisting terribly in the air, sounding more like the wails and moans of some evil creature in the dark than the crying for help it actually was.</p><p>Tap, tap, tap...</p><p>Taptaptap-!</p><p>Papyrus jumped and twisted around, swearing he heard someone walking quickly up behind him. When he didn’t see anyone there, he decided to run the rest of the way to his brother’s door. </p><p>He didn’t even pause to knock before turning the knob and launching himself into the room in a panic.</p><p>He stopped running just long enough to turn and close the door perhaps just a tad too loudly before turning around and speeding over to Sans’ bedside.</p><p>“Sans. Sans!” He whispered with a slight edge of fear, shaking his brother roughly. The floor was cold against his bare feet, and the air was still with tension- like the moment just before something reached out from the darkness to grab you.</p><p>Sans face was scrunched up in fear, a much softer moan forcing its way past his clenched teeth. He laid on his side, tightly curled under his fluffy comforter and clutching the blanket like it was the only thing between him and certain death.</p><p>Papyrus whined, looking around the room with increasing unnerve before an absent thought of, “What if something grabs your feet?” scared him bad enough to rip the covers off his brother and jump into the bed himself.</p><p>The little bones took a big breath of relief, finally feeling safe under the thick blanket.</p><p>“Brother.” Papyrus whispered more loudly, shaking his brother again; this time with less panic and more calm resolve.</p><p>His brother suffered from frequent nightmares, often unable to get decent rest unless he exhausted himself beforehand. </p><p>Papyrus had once convinced Sans to tell him about one, once when he’d just woken up and was still shaking from fear.</p><p>“It was...something was c-chasing me. I was running as fast as I could, but it always managed to find me.” Sans had shivered, crossing his arms, “It finally cornered me, a-and it was laughing. It grabbed me and I woke up, but it feels like it’s still touching me.”</p><p>Sitting in the dark next to his shaking big brother in his bed, knowing that very few things managed to scare Sans outside the house; it was fair to assume Papyrus had gotten a bit scared too. </p><p>It still scared him when Papyrus really thought about it, but the relieved look on his big brother’s face after telling him and the way he had curled around Papyrus and gone back to sleep without worry stuck with him just as much. </p><p>So now when Sans snapped awake and froze, staring at him with wide, empty sockets; Papyrus wasn’t afraid- he wouldn’t let himself be.</p><p>“It’s okay Sans,” he whispered, “It’s just me.”</p><p>“P-pap?” His brother shakily whispered back.</p><p>Papyrus nodded, “Mhm!”</p><p>Sans practically melted into his mattress in relief, “Oh Stars bro, you almost gave me a soul attack!”</p><p>Papyrus smiled a bit, snuggling closer to his brother’s warmth. Once he got comfortable he pulled the top of the blanket down and under his chin, looking at his slightly shaking brother.</p><p>“Do you want to talk about it?” He murmured.</p><p>Sans thought about it for a moment before sighing, “No, this one might actually give you nightmares too.”</p><p>Sans knew his brother well enough to sense the pout he couldn’t see, and smiled.</p><p>“Sorry brolio, but some things aren’t good for little ears to hear.” He offered.</p><p>Papyrus huffed, “But I don’t have ears!”</p><p>Sans laughed quietly and pulled his little brother into his arms.</p><p>“Don’t worry about it Papyrus, having you here is enough for me.”<br/>
——-</p><p>Sans’ typical work schedule as a Sentry of the Royal Guard was fairly consistent throughout the week. It was one of those sorts of jobs that never changed no matter what went on in the every day life of the underground.</p><p>Unfortunately, like many jobs under and above ground, it was the sort of job that took one out of bed long before the day really started.</p><p>Sans was notorious for his ability to sleep through just about anything if he really wanted to, and that included alarm clocks. He was also good about turning them off while he was still asleep, so it was often up to Papyrus (a light sleeper) to wake him up.</p><p>“Brother!” He called loudly, having already gotten out of bed, “We need to get up and get ready. You have to take me to school, and then go to work!”</p><p>Sans slept on, undisturbed.</p><p>Papyrus sighed. Even knowing from experience that waking Sans up required a great deal of persistence, the little bones sometimes wished it was so easy as telling him to move.</p><p>“Brother!” He called louder, walking over to the foot of the bed. (Sans tended to fling his limbs around if he thought it would buy him time, which was why Papyrus was firmly out of range.)</p><p>Sans grumbled and rolled over, pulling the blanket over his head.</p><p>Papyrus would pull the blanket off, but that always set off a terrible mood in Sans.</p><p>Suddenly, he had an idea.</p><p>“Sans!” He shouted, faking alarm, “Brother I think I saw a cockroach on your blanket!”</p><p>Sans shot up with a scream and kicked the covers off him, looking all around his bed, “WHERE? WHERE? WHERE?!”</p><p>“There!” Papyrus pointed to a random spot.</p><p>Sans screeched and rolled in the opposite direction, all the way off the bed and straight onto his face.</p><p>The room got quiet with shock, and for a moment Papyrus just stared at his brother’s prone form before bursting into uproarious laughter.</p><p>Sans rolled onto his back and sat up, staring at Papyrus in confusion.</p><p>“What are you laughing at?” He tensed and looked around himself feverishly, “Is it gone? Is it on me?!”</p><p>He started rolling on the floor desperately, trying to get an imaginary bug off while chanting, “Get it off, get it off, GET IT OFF.”</p><p>Papyrus was desperately wheezing for air a this point; orange tears rolling down his cheeks, face turning a dark shade of orange, and the most painful smile he’d probably ever had.</p><p>“B-brother-!” He gasped, “There’s- There’s no- Bug!”</p><p>Sans slowly stopped rolling, then he sat up again.</p><p>“...there’s no cockroach?” He asked.</p><p>Papyrus could only shake his head, gasping for air.</p><p>“But then why-“ Sans’ eye sockets widened in realization, “You conniving little weasel! You tricked me!”</p><p>Papyrus desperately tried to deny it, but Sans look of betrayal was so hard not to laugh at.</p><p>Sans sighed and pushed himself up onto his feet, shaking his head as he walked to his dresser on the other side of the room.</p><p>“Remember to breath, bro.” He warned as Sans heard Papyrus coughing behind him. </p><p>He opened a drawer and grabbed one of his rarer black shirts, not feeling up to the usual blinding yellow today. </p><p>Actually, what was today?</p><p>“Papyrus, what’s today?” He asked over his shoulder, pulling his t-shirt up over his head and throwing it back on his messy bed. He’ll have to fix that before he goes.</p><p>Papyrus seemed to have finally calmed down a bit, if the lack of wheezing and coughing was any indication.</p><p>“I-It’s Tuesday...pffft! Your face!”</p><p>Never mind.</p><p>“Tuesday, tuesday...” Sans knelt down to a bottom drawer and dug around for a pair of sweatpants, “Why does that ring a bell?”</p><p>“It’s uh-“ Papyrus giggled, “-It’s parent-teacher meeting day?”</p><p>“Ohhh,” Sans murmured, “Right. I still have to...”</p><p>“What?” Papyrus asked.</p><p>Sans shook his head, “Nothing bro, just talking to myself.”</p><p>Man, what a mood killer. This day just started and it already sucks ass.</p><p>“Hey Paps, why don’t you go ahead and get dressed for school, and I’ll make pancakes?” Sans offered, looking over his shoulder.</p><p>Papyrus cheered and ran out, closing the door gently behind him.</p><p>Sans laughed and finished getting ready, knowing if he didn’t hurry up and get down to the kitchen that Papyrus would start getting the kitchen ready for him, even if the little bones wasn’t sure what all Sans needed to make the hot cakes to begin with.</p><p>Breakfast passed by peacefully, and much like Saturday Sans helped Papyrus get ready to go outside. Soon the two skeletons were out of the house and on their way to dropping Papyrus off at the Librarby, which doubled as a school on week days.</p><p>It was a cool, quiet morning in Snowdin; The shops were just beginning to open, Grillby’s was firmly closed, and kids were slowly making their way to class- some with escorts, some without.</p><p>Sans made sure to walk his little brother to school every day before heading off to his sentry station. </p><p>As the two approached the library doors, Sans pulled him off to the side to say his goodbye.</p><p>“Now, you’ve got everything? Lunch, supplies, good attitude, etcetera?” He asked one more time.</p><p>Papyrus grinned up at him, “Check, check, and check!”</p><p>Sans smiled, “Good. And remember, if you need something-“</p><p>“-You’re at your station over by the Ruin doors.” Papyrus finished.</p><p>“Correctomundo little bro.” Sans praised, patting his skull, “Now, want a hug before I go?”</p><p>Papyrus nodded eagerly, “Please!”</p><p>Sans crouched down and pulled the kid into a hug. It lasted a good while before Sans faked snoring.</p><p>“Ack! No! Sans, don’t fall asleep on me!” Papyrus complained, trying to shove him away.</p><p>Sans made an obnoxious snoring sound, making sure it sounded as fake as possible.</p><p>“NYEH! BROTHER!” Papyrus flailed his arms out to the sides, careful not to hit Sans.</p><p>Sans got halfway through another snore before it was interrupted by a pretentious snort.</p><p>“I see you two are having a great time, but it’s time for class. Say goodbye to your father and come in.” Ms. Faun commented condescendingly.</p><p>Papyrus frowned and looked down, fidgeting with his jacket zipper.</p><p>Sans was quickly beginning to dislike the deer monster in ways he didn’t think were possible for him.</p><p>“Go on in Papyrus,” he said with a smile, “Go knock their socks off!”</p><p>Papyrus gave him a relieved smile and took off inside, running past Ms. Faun without a backwards glance.</p><p>The deer monster followed him to the door.</p><p>“Faun.” Sans called.</p><p>Ms. Faun turned around, “Yes? And please call me Ms. Faun.”</p><p>Sans frowned, “You’re not my teacher and not my elder, so no. I just wanted to make something clear before I left.”</p><p>The deer monster stiffened, feeling a strong foreign magic pressing down on her.</p><p>“S-sir-!” She gritted out, preparing her own magic in defense; and then it was gone.</p><p>The skeleton grinned, “I’m not Paps father.”</p><p>Sans took a shortcut.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Sans: my brother is everything to me<br/>Sans: so watch yourself, deer.<br/>Ms. Faun: O.O</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0005"><h2>5. Chapter 5</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Sans was willing to give her a chance. Too bad he only gave her one.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Sentry: a soldier stationed to keep guard or to control access to a place. Otherwise known as guard, sentinel, watchman, patrol, or lookout.</p><p>Personally Sans preferred sentry; it made him sound much cooler than he actually was, and when Papyrus was learning to speak he kept saying “Sit-tee” instead. It was great, everyone loved it.</p><p>“Yup, those were the days...” he murmured, staring off into the empty forest around him.</p><p>Sans had been working this job for nearly six years at this point, and not a thing has changed; same station, same hours, same scenery. </p><p>Well, no; that was a lie. Until recently, Sans had always taken the little bones with him while he worked, but Papyrus had gotten old enough to go to school and Sans couldn’t really keep him away from his education now could he? Atleast not unless he started homeschooling the little terror.</p><p>And thusly Sans had been left with a choice; homeschooling, or public school. At least, he thought he had a choice until he brought it up to the little bones himself. Sans had been all for homeschooling, but...</p><p>“I want to go to school, normal school!”</p><p>Sans’ smile faltered, “Uh, are- are you sure? Public school can be rough, and not everyone is nice all the time...”</p><p>Papyrus smiled, “That’s okay, they don’t have to be; but I can’t make more friends if I don’t try!”</p><p>He saw Sans’ worried frown and huffed, “Sans, I can do it! I promise!”</p><p>...well, Papyrus always was good at convincing him of other ideas.</p><p>Sans sighed and scratched the side of his skull. It had been almost a month since Papyrus started school, and he still wasn’t used to the stillness. Turns out six years of constant exposure to a loud child leaves its mark in unexpected ways.</p><p>The skeleton reached under his stand for the stack of paper he kept on a small shelf under the counter, grabbing probably two or three sheets and a pen shoved towards the back and placing them on top of the counter.</p><p>Papyrus didn’t get out of class until two-thirty, and Sans himself didn’t get out until twelve, so he had four hours to kill before he could go home and then two and a half more until that Parent-Teacher conference.</p><p>He might as well make those hours productive.<br/>——</p><p>“Hey Sans!”</p><p>Sans looked up to see Doggo walking carefully down the path.</p><p>“Hey! If it isn’t my favorite dog monster!” Sans called back.</p><p>Doggo laughed, cautiously stepping over a stick, “You liar, I heard you telling Dogaressa a few days ago that she was your favorite!”</p><p>Sans smirked, “Can’t I have more than one favorite?”</p><p>Doggo finally got within a few feet and just smiled, shaking his head.</p><p>“So can I assume you got the short stick today?” Sans wondered, carefully folding and packing away the small stack of papers into a pocket.</p><p>“Yeah,” The dog monster sighed, “I don’t know how you do it. This entire area gives me the heebie-jeebies, and the next closest station is so far away!”</p><p>“What can I say? I’ve got nerves of steel.” Sans shrugged.</p><p>Doggo squinted at the movement suspiciously.</p><p>“Was that some sort of pun?” He asked.</p><p>Sans smirked, “I don’t know, was it?”</p><p>Doggo huffed, “Just get out of here. Tell the little pup I said hi.”</p><p>Sans stood up and hopped over the counter, “Will do my friend. Oh!”</p><p>The skeleton dug around in his other pocket and picked out a small bag, handing it to Doggo while he walked past.</p><p>“Papyrus wanted me to give y’all a gift for some reason, so I did. Each of you get one. One, yah hear me?” Sans informed sternly, walking backwards.</p><p>“Wha- hey, wait, Sans!” Doggo yelled after him, exasperated, “You can’t just hand me something with super vague instructions and not tell me what it is!”</p><p>“Come on Doggo, where’s your sense of adventure?!” He called back, much farther away.</p><p>He wanted to get as far as he could to avoid the explosion he knew what coming in three...</p><p>Doggo opened the bag curiously, sniffing and licking at the things jangling inside.</p><p>Two...</p><p>With a start, Doggo realized they were peanut covered bones!</p><p>One!</p><p>“SANS! -bark!- OH MY STARS SANS! -bark bark!- COME BACK SO I CAN LICK YOU!” </p><p>Sans laughed, delighted, then took a shortcut away.<br/>——</p><p>The Librarby was in unusual form today; people fluttering around like a small swarm of butterflies.</p><p>The first parent-teacher conference had been called; and like some sort of unspoken holiday, everyone in town had gathered around.</p><p>Tables of food had been set up outside, kids ran around and dodged parent as they played, parents stood by or sat on benches watching them with tired smiles; and inside Ms. Faun, two other teachers, and the Librarians prepared tables for the teachers to hold meetings at. It was almost three o’clock, so they had to hurry.</p><p>“Faun?” One such teacher, a Mr. G. Bear, called out to the other.</p><p>Faun jumped and looked around, thinking that one older skeleton had finally show up. She felt pretty foolish when it turned out just to be her coworker.</p><p>“Ah, yes G. Bear?” She asked.</p><p>“Are you sure you don’t want me to take a few of yours? Your grade is a lot bigger than it was last year, it can’t be easy on you.” The much taller monster offered, setting down a box of papers on a clear table.</p><p>She almost said yes, she almost begged the bear monster to take one particular family off her hands, but her pride wouldn’t allow it.</p><p>“No thank you,” Faun said, shaking her head, “I can handle it.”</p><p>“Come on guys! Ten minutes to start!” One of the librarians called out.<br/>——-</p><p>Faun waved the pair of slimes off with a relieved sigh. It was always hard to tell proud parents that their child was struggling in school, and this family (though very polite) seemed in a permanent state of denial about their son.</p><p>She really hoped things worked out later in the semester, if only for their sake.</p><p>“If the next family for first grade would please come in?” Faun called out to the waiting line outside the wide open doors.</p><p>She did her best to straighten the table up again while she waited for the next to take a seat.</p><p>When no one sat down, Faun looked up; only to gasp and accidentally fling her papers everywhere.</p><p>“I-I am s-so so sorry! I-I didn’t see you there!” She stuttered, quickly getting up from her seat and gathering any stray papers she could find.</p><p>To her surprise the tall skeleton started helping her, picking up any papers that had found their way to his feet.</p><p>“No, it’s my bad. I didn’t think I’d scare you that bad.” He replied, scanning the floor one final time before neatly handing them back to Faun, who had also straightened up at that point.</p><p>Was-...was this the same skeleton from this morning? He was acting so friendly, and considerate.</p><p>Maybe he’d just had a bad morning, Faun decided.</p><p>She carefully sat back on her chair, and the skeleton copied her without hesitation. </p><p>“Thank you for your help. I don’t think we’ve properly introduced ourselves yet; my name is Faun, but I would prefer it if you called me Ms. Faun.” The deer monster said.</p><p>“And my name is Sans,” the newly minted Sans responded politely, “I’m Papyrus’ older brother.”</p><p>“I see. Do you mind if I ask where your parents are?” </p><p>Sans smile never faltered for even a second, “They’re dead.”</p><p>Faun felt ice run down her spine. This monster was scary.</p><p>“R-right! Well,” she quickly tried to salvage the situation, “Let’s talk about Papyrus, why don’t we?”</p><p>Faun fiddled through some folders she had labeled in a box and pulled out one simply titled “Papyrus.”</p><p>“Your brother is a very kind and helpful child, but he seems to have problems listening to instructions.” She started, displaying a few poorly graded art pieces, “For whatever reason he keeps using the wrong colors. They’re all lovely drawings, but he almost never uses the actual ones listed.”</p><p>“Huh.” Sans muttered, examining the offered drawings.</p><p>“Now, I’ve told him repeatedly what I expect from the assignments, but if he doesn’t shape up I will have to resort to detentions at recess.”</p><p>“I understand.” Sans nodded.</p><p>Faun frowned, “And I’d like it if you could maybe try and encourage him to get along with others a bit more. The other students don’t seem to like him that much.”</p><p>“Alright. I’ll make sure to talk to Papyrus about it later.”</p><p>Faun felt like a weight had lifted from her shoulders. It didn’t feel like any progress had been made to solve the problem, but atleast now she could move on to the next family!</p><p>Both monsters stood and Faun offered out a hand, which Sans took.</p><p>“Wonderful! Well, I hope you two have a lovely day-“</p><p>“By the way,” Sans cut in, “My brother is color blind.”</p><p>“O-oh!” Faun frowned. She tried to take her hand back, but Sans wasn’t letting go.</p><p>“I’m sorry to hear that, but you really should have told me about it when he joined the class, I’m afraid I can’t change any of the grades now-“</p><p>Sans gave her a strained grin, “Actually, I just found out a few days ago.”</p><p>Faun’s frown deepened, “Oh. I’m so sorry, I shouldn’t have assumed-“</p><p>“-that I was so irresponsible a guardian that I didn’t bother to tell you something that important?”</p><p>Faun floundered and tried harder to take her hand back, “Well, that’s not the words I would have used, but-“</p><p>“Actually, if you think about it, I should be the one accusing you of irresponsibility.” Sans continued on leisurely, “See, Papyrus told me the other day that some of your kids make fun of him because of his color blindness, and some older kid named Marlo pushed him too. He told me that when he told you about it, all you did was tell the kid’s dad, who I hear didn’t actually care what his punk kid did anyway.”</p><p>Faun stuttered, flustered, “Th-that was an entirely separate situation and it was taken care of, I assure you!”</p><p>“Except it wasn’t.” Sans sneered, finally dropping the stupid grin, “My brother was involved. He was physically assaulted by an older child while in your care.“</p><p>“It was just a push!” Faun argued, “No one was seriously hurt!”</p><p>“This time! No one was seriously hurt this time.” Sans lowered his voice, eye lights turned off, “And for your sake, I hope there’s no next time.”</p><p>Faun pulled hard on her captured palm once more, but to her surprise the skeleton let go and she fell back into her chair hard- which then overbalanced and fell over.</p><p>“Ms. Faun!” A couple of people rushed to her aid. By the time Faun finally got back to her feet Sans was gone.</p><p>...perhaps she will keep a closer eye on Papyrus.<br/>——</p><p>Sans and Papyrus sat at the kitchen table, enjoying what the two liked to call “Celebration Spaghetti”- which was just plain old spaghetti imbued with the taller skeletons feelings of pride and love for the smaller; Papyrus loved it.</p><p>“I’m telling you bro!” Sans said through a mouthful of noodles, “Those drawing your teacher showed me were wonderful! Why don’t you make more?”</p><p>Papyrus grimaced, “But everyone says they’re ugly; that none of the colors match.”</p><p>Sans hid a flash of irritation, “Bro, forget what they said. They were doing it to be mean, not actually giving you any honest opinions.”</p><p>Papyrus frowned down at his spaghetti, confused, “But-“</p><p>“But nothing,” Sans cut in, “They were lying to you, that’s all there is to it. And since they were lying...” </p><p>He looked at Papyrus expectantly.</p><p>“Then they...actually meant the opposite?” Papyrus asked, “My drawings are actually good?”</p><p>“Exactly!” Sans beamed.</p><p>Papyrus couldn’t hide his smile if he tried.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Sans: *looking around suspiciously in his room*<br/>Sans: *digs around in his pocket for stolen drawings*<br/>Sans: she didn’t appreciate them anyway <br/>Sans: *tacs them to the wall proudly*</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0006"><h2>6. Chapter 6</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>What has Error been up to?</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Error groaned, falling back into his hammock roughly.</p><p>Three days of nonstop searching for some sort of gap or loophole in Ink’s world lock on the Doodle Sphere had resulted in basically nothing.</p><p>That scatter brained idiot had done a surprisingly good job in locking his home down, and Error had to admit that the code work was probably one of the smoothest he’d seen (besides his own, of course); But this left him with a problem.</p><p>Error would never admit it, but walking into that AU only to be greeted with a bunch of charged up Gaster Blasters in his face had actually scared him a little. He knew at the time it wouldn’t kill him, even if he wished it would, but that just meant that Error would be in unimaginable pain for however long it took the group of Sans to atleast consider him as good as.</p><p>Well, unfortunately he’d been right; and he didn’t really want to talk about it right now.</p><p>Which is also why he wishes the voices would stop asking!</p><p>
  <strong>“WOULD-D-D YO-YO-YOU JUST SHUT UP ALREADY-Y-Y?!”</strong>
</p><p>
  <em>Wow, rude!</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Sorry, we’re worried.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Excuse you, I was enjoying his pain and suffering! He deserves it for killing all those people.</em>
</p><p>Error sighed. Here we go again.</p><p>
  <em>Dude, for the last time; he didn’t want to do that! He doesn’t have a choice!</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Guys, please don’t fight.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Right, right; Fate said “Error! You must destroy everything in horrible ways because I said so!” and Error had to follow along like a brainless zombie!</em>
</p><p>Error twitched.</p><p>
  <em>Oh come on! You know as well as I do that Fate has a tighter hold on Error than a Horror Sans with food! Besides-!</em>
</p><p>
  <em>GUYS!</em>
</p><p>
  <em>What?!</em>
</p><p>
  <em>She’s listening...</em>
</p><p>Error froze, sockets empty as he did his best impression of a puppet with its strings cut.</p><p>A few tense moments passed (could have been minutes, could have been hours- hard to tell in a gargantuan white timeless dimension) before the kinder of the three voices sighed.</p><p>
  <em>She’s gone.</em>
</p><p>Error sighed with relief and sat up.</p><p>
  <em>Oh thank the stars!</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Ugh, I hate when she visits. Do either of you feel sort of dirty now?</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Actually, yeah.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>I can only imagine how Error feels right now...</em>
</p><p>Well, Error was feeling the need to find a waterfall and drown himself in it. Fate always had a way of making him feeling violated after a visit. Luckily she didn’t stick around for long this time, so Error could assume nothing terrible was going on outside the anti void right now.</p><p>Error sighed, <strong>“That’s what you guys g-g-get for talking about someone who’s listening-ing-ing.”</strong></p><p>
  <em>That is so creepy. Please don’t ever say that again.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Wimp.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>THATS IT! WHERE DO YOU LIVE?</em>
</p><p>
  <em>237 Not your street, In your dreams, Looser!</em>
</p><p>
  <em>I’LL FIGHT YOU PUNK!</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Guys, please! Can’t we just have a moment of peace and let Error have his break?</em>
</p><p>
  <em>NOT UNTIL THIS LITTLE SHIT GETS TAUGHT A LESSON!</em>
</p><p>Error groaned and flopped back down onto his hammock, swinging it side to side gently as he did his best to think over the sound of bickering voices.</p><p>He was so tired of being here, in the anti void, but Error was worried that if he went somewhere then someone (a group of someones specifically) would find him and start an Encounter; and the glitch’s body was still healing from the last...fight.</p><p>He could watch some UnderNovela, but Error definitely wasn’t in the mood for reruns at the moment.</p><p>So, can’t leave, can’t watch his usual show...</p><p><em>You know, if you’re really that bored you could always spy on a random AU.</em> The kinder voice said, having given up on stopping the verbal smack down going on in the background.</p><p>Error grimaced, <strong>“Why-y-y? So I can torture myself by getting attached to someone I’ll have to k-k-kill later?”</strong></p><p>
  <em>Just a thought. Maybe it’ll even be worth it.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Anything is better than this stupid anti void! We’ve been here for days, let’s do something interesting for once!</em>
</p><p>
  <em>HEY! Don’t just ignore me! I wasn’t done with you!</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Well I was! Your insults are lamer than a drunk Sans’ puns! (Gasp! You take that back!) Error come on, for once in your life take a risk!</em>
</p><p>Error’s eye socket twitched, wishing he knew some way of shutting that particular voice up.</p><p><strong>“Y-Y-You know what? Fine!”</strong> The destroyer cried, hands flinging to the air in frustration, <strong>“We’ll spy-y-y on some stupid glitch!”</strong></p><p>Angrily he rolled off the hammock, falling a good ten feet and landing skillfully on his feet.</p><p>
  <em>Ha! Error really is a cat!</em>
</p><p>
  <strong>“Shut u-u-up before I change my mind!”</strong>
</p><p>Surprisingly, they listened. The only voice Error could hear now was the angry grumbling of the one that was shouting earlier.</p><p>Error swiped a hand in the air in front of him, tearing a spastic hole in reality and revealing a series of never ending numbers and symbols layered over each other; scrolling around in different directions in infinite darkness.</p><p><strong>“Any reque-e-ests?”</strong> Error asked.</p><p>
  <em>I’m fine with whatever you want.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Action! Drama! PAIN!</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Says the one who was criticizing Error for his job. Atleast he doesn’t enjoy other’s suffering.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Wha- I- You-! You know what? Undertale! Pick an Undertale!</em>
</p><p>Error sighed, <strong>“W-W-Which one? There’s atleast a-a-a hundred copies at any given time.”</strong></p><p>
  <em>Uh...</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Hmm.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>...</em>
</p><p>Error huffed, <strong>“We-e-ell?”</strong></p><p>
  <em>...Eighty-eight.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>What?</em>
</p><p>
  <em>That one? Are you sure?</em>
</p><p><strong>“What’s w-w-wrong with number Eighty-eight?”</strong> Error wondered, but not for the first time he was ignored.</p><p>
  <em>It feels right.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>It sounds like a disaster.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>For once, we agree.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Come on guys, here me out! This could be good for both of them.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Or, and this is just a thought, Error does his job and kills them; that’s a real possibility.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Well, I guess it doesn’t matter now. Error’s already looking.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Huh?</em>
</p><p>
  <em>What?!</em>
</p><p>Sure enough, Error had already found and pulled up a window into the AU; an image of the center of Snowdin around midday as clear as day for all to see.</p><p><strong>“You guys are s-s-slow.”</strong> He said, having plopped down onto the ground with his legs crisscrossed, head leaning into a hand.</p><p>
  <em>Huh.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Well then.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Ha! Kiss that AU goodbye boys, this’ll be the last time we see it!</em>
</p><p>
  <em>You really are insufferable.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Now you know how I feel about you!</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Atleast I’m not a pest!</em>
</p><p>Error heard the kinder one sigh.</p><p>
  <em>Error, you might as well start watching without us.</em>
</p><p>The destroyer raised a brow, <strong>“And just w-w-who am I watching?”</strong></p><p>
  <em>Do you see that little skeleton sitting by himself at the Library?</em>
</p><p><strong>“Librarby.”</strong> Error corrected, <strong>“And y-y-yeah, I do.”</strong></p><p>
  <em>Just watch him for a little.</em>
</p><p>Error sighed, but did as told.</p><p>Fairly quickly on the destroyer figured out that he was watching the tail end of school being let out.</p><p>A little skeleton dressed in a light orange shirt with dark orange stripes, a thick red jacket and scarf that were just a bit too big, and a tough pair of jeans sat on a bench in front of the building, feet swinging as he hummed a little tune and doodled in a rough looking journal.</p><p>“Pap!” Someone yelled off screen.</p><p>Error blinked in surprise, <strong>“That’s this-is-is world’s Papyrus?”</strong></p><p>
  <em>Yup, pretty cute right?</em>
</p><p>He huffed, <strong>“Not a-a-as cute as me, but sure.”</strong></p><p>Papyrus perked up and rushed to put his stuff away in an equally roughed up bag, just as a taller skeleton dressed in a pair of black sweatpants and shirt with a bright yellow jacket and slippers walked into view.</p><p>On closer inspection Error realized that, unlike the smaller skeleton, that light shade of yellow was the only bit of bright color on the taller; everything else was black.</p><p>“Brother!” Papyrus called back, jumping off the bench and swinging his tired bag over his shoulder as he ran to meet the other.</p><p><strong>“S-S-So that’s this world Sans,”</strong> Error commented, <strong>“Looks like a bee.”</strong></p><p>
  <em>-and your mother’s a lama!</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Take that back you alfalfa fuck!</em>
</p><p><em>I suppose.</em> The kinder voice sighed.</p><p>Sans crouched down, letting the younger launch himself into the older skeleton’s arms with a delighted giggle. Careful he stood back up, making sure had Papyrus had wrapped his arms around Sans’ neck vertebrae before he did so, arms holding the little skeleton securely to his chest.</p><p>“Heyo little bro, how goes the day?” Sans asked with a smile.</p><p>Papyrus hummed, “Marlo tried to push me again during recess.”</p><p>Sans frowned, “Yeah?”</p><p>“Mhm,” Papyrus nodded with a sly smile, “But this time Ms. Faun saw it, and she gave him detention for tomorrow!”</p><p>Sans gave him a matching grin, “Ha! Serves him right.”</p><p>The little bones giggled a soft “Nyeh heh heh” in response.</p><p>Sans sighed, still smiling, and Error had the brief thought that he looked really tired.</p><p>“Right!” Sans exclaimed, “So, Grillby’s or Home?”</p><p>Papyrus hummed, resting his chin on his brother’s shoulder thoughtfully.</p><p>“Grillby’s.” He decided.</p><p>Sans smiled and started off in the bar’s direction, “Grillby’s it is, then.”</p><p>As the two made the short journey to their destination, Error took a moment to ask his questions.</p><p>
  <strong>“W-W-Who’s Marlo?”</strong>
</p><p>The one with a lama mother huffed. <em>Some asshole kid who likes to pick on Papyrus.</em></p><p>Error scowled, <strong>“This Papyrus has bullies-es-es?”</strong></p><p>
  <em>Sort of. Marlo is the worst offender, but he’s older so the other kids in his class look up to him. They don’t really dislike Papyrus, they just want to be “cool” like that idiot.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Easy, Marlo is still just a kid; he doesn’t really understand what he’s doing is wrong yet.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>You think I care? That little mistake and his lackeys almost ruined art for Papyrus!</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Hopefully Ms. Faun will keep him in line now.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Ha! I bet the only reason she did anything this time was because of Sans!</em>
</p><p>The destroyer frowned, <strong>“I don’t follow-ow-ow.”</strong></p><p>
  <em>Ms. Faun is...</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Terrible? Annoying?</em>
</p><p>
  <em>A condescending piece of shit?</em>
</p><p>
  <em>I was going to say overworked but-</em>
</p><p>
  <em>But?</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Well, you’re not wrong.</em>
</p><p><strong>“Jeez, what-at-at did she do?”</strong> Error wondered, watching as Sans and Papyrus finally reached their destination and took a seat at an empty booth.</p><p>
  <em>That’s kind of the problem. She didn’t do anything; wasn’t even paying attention half the time.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>She actually had the nerve to accuse Papyrus of being antisocial! Papyrus! What a joke!</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Well, that’s not exactly what she said-</em>
</p><p>
  <em>I swear, if you defend her-</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Don’t make me fight you-!</em>
</p><p>
  <em>-but she did seem to think Papyrus was at fault for his pariah status.</em>
</p><p>Grillby’s walked over to the skeleton’s booth.</p><p>“Hi Grillby!” Papyrus greeted. Sans just nodded to the elemental with a smile.</p><p>“......, .....?” Grillby asked.</p><p>“Um,” Papyrus glances over to his brother, who nodded encouragingly, “Can I have a milkshake?”</p><p>Grillby nodded, “.....?”</p><p>“Uhhh, Fries!”</p><p>The flame elemental nodded again and turned to Sans.</p><p>“......?”</p><p>Sans stared at Grillby for a moment, rubbing his neck vertebrae thoughtfully.</p><p>“Eh, you know what?” Sans shrugged, “Surprise me.”</p><p>Grillby’s flames flared a bit, and his glasses glinted.</p><p>“......” he said before turning sharply and marching towards the bar.</p><p>“Oooh, I think you just made his day brother!” Papyrus giggled.</p><p>Sans smiled, still rubbing his neck, “Don’t tell him, but I was sort of getting tired of eating the same thing.”</p><p>Papyrus gasped and covered his mouth in playful shock, “But brother, Grillby’s burgers are great!”</p><p>“Shhh!” Sans hushed through giggles, “You’re gonna give me away you little rascal!”</p><p>The destroyer was so focused on those two that he didn’t notice that he’d started smiling. He didn’t notice the shocked whispers either.</p><p>
  <em>Oh my stars...</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Is he actually smiling? The destroyer can smile?</em>
</p><p>
  <em>What are you talking about? He’s smiled before.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Yes, but not. like. that.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Guys, I think this was the greatest decision we’ve ever made.</em>
</p><p>Unnoticed by all, just as Grillby came back with food, Sans eye lights glanced directly at the window.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Voice 1: howdy!<br/>Voice 2: hello.<br/>Voice 3: sup bitches?!<br/>Voice 1&amp;2: why are you like this?</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0007"><h2>7. Chapter 7</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Papyrus is a child, and sometimes children do mean things.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Sans sighed into his crossed arms, thoughts drifting as he stared out into the snow covered landscape before him.</p><p>Yesterday had been...difficult. A complete disaster even.</p><p>Sans had waited until Papyrus was two-thirds of the way through with his milkshake before catching his attention.</p><p>“Papyrus, can I talk to you about something important for a second?” He’d reluctantly asked.</p><p>Papyrus nodded, still slurping up the treat.</p><p>“I- You know how-...”</p><p>Sans frowned, jaw hanging a bit as he tried to figure out how to say this.</p><p>“Th-the other d-day-...”</p><p>Papyrus stopped slurping, instead just staring at Sans worriedly over his cup.</p><p>Sans rubbed his neck vertebrae roughly, thoughts scrambling further apart as he tried to speak.</p><p>He must have made a lovely impression of a fish right about then, but luckily no one in the bar had pointed it out.</p><p>Just say it! He told himself, You’re only making it worse; He’s going to think something is seriously wrong!</p><p>I know, I know! I’m trying! He thought back desperately.</p><p>Stubbornly, Sans’ body refused to cooperate; his voice refused to work.</p><p>Papyrus’ expectant stare had felt like a timer slowly counting down. One second, two seconds, three.</p><p>“Tick tock,” his stare said, “Tick tock.”</p><p>Sans forced a smile, trying to keep things light- trying to keep Papyrus from thinking anything was wrong. It had felt like several minutes were passing, but looking back on it made Sans realize he’d probably only let two or three go by before saying “Screw it!” and letting his discretion drop and shatter into pieces.</p><p>He couldn’t not tell the little skeleton at this point. Sans had already made a fool of himself, and Papyrus wouldn’t have bought any flimsy excuse he made at that moment either.</p><p>Sans couldn’t tell you how he said it- couldn’t even say it didn’t come out a stuttered, slurred mess- but somehow he did it, and regretted it the second it came out.</p><p>At first Papyrus had been confused, and he’d asked Sans something the skeleton could neither remember answering nor what was even asked of him. All he remembered was watching his brother’s expression.</p><p>Watching it slowly...fall.</p><p>Watching as Papyrus began asking even more questions, this time more quickly.</p><p>Sans shook his head, burying it in his arms. He didn’t want to think of it anymore, it’s literally all he’d been thinking of since he woke up, but it kept coming back- and that resignation when Papyrus realized just what it meant!</p><p>“So they’re always going to make fun of me then.”</p><p>Sans had hesitated, but nodded. Lying would only upset his brother more.</p><p>“Maybe not them specifically, but yes.”</p><p>“But why?!” Papyrus demanded loudly, grip tightening on his cup.</p><p>Sans watched him carefully, startled by the tone.</p><p>“Because-“ He paused then shook his head, switching gears, “When someone doesn’t follow a set pattern, sometimes it scares other people, makes them really uncomfortable.”</p><p>“B-but that’s not fair! I didn’t choose to be different!” Papyrus denied, orange tears starting to form in his dark sockets. Sans thought he heard a crack coming from the poor cup.</p><p>Sans winced at the word “different,” old wounds and memories resurfacing as he quickly wiped his own tears away with his jacket sleeve.</p><p>The elder skeleton quickly got up and moved to sit beside his little brother in the booth. He made to wrap an arm around Papyrus, but the little bones shied away and scooted further down the bench.</p><p>He probably deserved that. Sans thought, pushing down the sting of hurt in his soul.</p><p>“You’re not different,” Sans quickly denied, “You just see things in a way most people can’t.”</p><p>“What do you know!” Papyrus snapped at him, “You’re not even the slightest bit different!”</p><p>Sans flinched back, eye sockets wide, “B-bro-“</p><p>The unfortunate thing about being an adult is that sometimes it’s easy to forget that children can do things you sometimes wouldn’t expect, like ducking under a table and escaping out the underside like a slippery weasel (“P-Papyrus!”) and taking off through the front door.</p><p>Sans had scrambled out of the booth, pointedly ignoring the stares of the patrons as he rushed to dig out coins from his pocket and simultaneously keep an eye on the red jacket through the glass of the front door.</p><p>When his finger kept getting caught on a string while he tried to pull gold coins out, Sans hissed out a “Fuck it!” and rushed for the door himself.</p><p>He remembered throwing a quick, “I’ll be right back!” to a concerned Grillby before pulling the door open and rushing into the cold Snowdin air, taking off after the distant red jacket as fast as he could.</p><p>Sans whined and pressed his forehead into the sentry counter, sockets closed tightly.</p><p>“Stop it Sans!” He hissed to himself, “Just stop it!”<br/>———</p><p>
  <em>Wow, this Sans is kind of a wimp.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Dude, shut up. He’s having a bad time, he’s allowed to cry.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>It definitely can’t be easy for him right now.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>So the kid’s mad at him, so what? Kids get mad! It’s not the end of the world.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Papyrus is all he’s got, and he didn’t even wake up Sans this morning. Who knows what the poor guy is feeling right now.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Oh, boo hoo! “My little brother won’t speak to me and now I’m sad!” That’s pathetic!</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Actually, I think it’s more “I had to tell my brother bad news and now he’s taking his anger out on me.”</em>
</p><p>Error did his best to ignore them, watching the Sans try his best to keep himself together. It didn’t work, but the destroyer could appreciate the attempt.</p><p>Kids were hard, and sometimes they said things they didn’t mean in anger that really hurt. He would have been surprised if the Sans hadn’t been upset.</p><p>Error opened up a side window to show Papyrus, who sat by himself on a bench outside watching the other kids run around and play.</p><p>The little skeleton was struggling not to cry himself, refusing to look anywhere but the snow around him.</p><p>Ms. Faun walked into view slowly, wiping the snow off the bench and sitting down delicately.</p><p>
  <em>Oh great, it’s her.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Wonder what she’s up to.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Hmm...</em>
</p><p>“Papyrus, why aren’t you playing with the others?” She asked softly.</p><p>Papyrus glared at the ground harder, “Why? So they can pick on me again?”</p><p>Ms. Faun’s eyes widened in surprise “They pick on you?”</p><p>
  <em>No duh!</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Didn’t Sans tell her that?</em>
</p><p>
  <em>She’s probably blocked away most of that memory. Sans was rather menacing.</em>
</p><p>Papyrus shot her a glare, “I’ve been telling you that.”</p><p>Ms. Faun winced, “You have, haven’t you? I’m sorry Papyrus, I thought...”</p><p>“What?” Papyrus huffed, “That I liked sitting by myself and watching everyone else play?”</p><p>
  <em>Oooh, he’s still mad.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Dudes got balls for a skeleton.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Wow, that is probably the nicest thing you’ve ever said.</em>
</p><p>Ms. Faun sighed, “I really have failed you as a teacher, haven’t I?”</p><p>Papyrus didn’t answer, but she didn’t really expect one.</p><p>“Maybe I can still make it up to you though. Can I ask what has you so upset today?” She asked.</p><p>Papyrus frowned and shrugged to himself.</p><p>“My brother told me why my colors are wrong.” He said.</p><p>“I see,” the deer monster frowned, “That must have been hard to hear.”</p><p>“Mhm, and then he said I wasn’t different.”</p><p>“Um,” Ms. Faun tilted her head with a confused look, “Forgive me if I’m wrong, but isn’t that a good thing?”</p><p>“It was a lie!” Papyrus cried, hands slapping down on the bench on either side of him.</p><p>
  <em>Ohhhh, now I get it.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Oh, Papyrus no...</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Ouch, my feelings.</em>
</p><p>Error sighed and facepalmed.</p><p>Ms. Faun sighed, “So what happened next?”</p><p>“I ran all the way to my room and locked my door, and I didn’t come out until it was time for school.” Papyrus said proudly, but that quickly disappeared when he saw his teachers stern frown.</p><p>She shook her head at him, “I’m surprised your brother let you do that. I don’t know if he told you, but during that parent-teacher conference two days ago he gave me a real scare.”</p><p>“Really?” The little bones asked.</p><p>“Yes,” Ms. Faun nodded, “But do you know why?”</p><p>Papyrus shook his head.</p><p>“He was upset that I hadn’t done more when Marlo pushed you that first time.” She huffed a laugh, “Made it very clear he didn’t want it to happen again.”</p><p>“O-oh,” Papyrus frowned and kicked his legs.</p><p>“I don’t think you realize just how much your brother loves you,” Ms. Faun said, turning to watch a couple of students roughhousing carefully, “He told me your parents weren’t around, and it made me curious, so I did some asking around yesterday. Did you know that you two are the only skeletons in the entire underground?”</p><p>“Mm-mm.”</p><p>“I want you to imagine this then for just a second,” Ms. Faun said, “Your all alone in a new place. It’s cold and there’s no older brother around to help you or keep you company, and no money or friends to help you get by. Sounds scary, right?”</p><p>Papyrus fidgeted with his scarf and gave a small nod.</p><p>“Now imagine you’ve got a tiny little skeleton with you. He’s all you’ve got; a small light of hope in a scary new world. How do you think you would feel?”</p><p>She waited for an answer but Papyrus stayed silent, pulling at a loose thread.</p><p>“Your brother would do anything to keep you safe and happy,” She said, “So isn’t it telling that he chose to tell you something that made you sad?”</p><p>Error’s brows flew up.</p><p>
  <em>Holy crap, what happened to the snooty teacher from earlier?!</em>
</p><p>
  <em>What do you know, maybe people can change for the better after all.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>She’s put a lot of thought into this. I guess she really wanted answers?</em>
</p><p>Papyrus got really quiet, and then he jumped off the bench and started walking off.</p><p>“Papyrus? Where are you going?” Ms. Faun asked.</p><p>Papyrus walked a few more steps then turned and shot the teacher a determined look, “I’m going to find my brother!”</p><p>“What- PAPYRUS! WAIT!”</p><p>But he’d already sprinted off. Error made sure the window followed him, not wanting to miss anything. Meanwhile he turned his attention to Sans, who was still doing his best to hide the fact he was crying even though no one was around to see it.</p><p>Well, except for him and the voices; but they didn’t count.</p><p>Papyrus was a fast little tyke, but it still took a good few minutes for him to reach the sentry station, and he slowed down quite a bit before actually getting close.</p><p>His brother didn’t hear him and it gave Papyrus a moment really look at Sans.</p><p>Error didn’t know what the little bones was thinking but whatever it was made him frown.</p><p>Sans let out a shaky breath, desperately wiping his sockets with a sleeve. He snapped his head around when he heard footsteps walking his way.</p><p>“P-paps?” He asked, rubbing his sockets harder.</p><p>The little skeleton slowly walked up to the post, stopping about a foot away.</p><p>“Hi Sans.” He said with a little wave.</p><p>“W-what are you doing here? Aren’t you supposed to be at s-school?” Sans asked with a sniffle.</p><p>Papyrus didn’t really answer, instead walking around to the open back of the station and standing next to his seated brother.</p><p>Sans turned to him, and Papyrus held his arms up to him.</p><p>“Can you pick me up?” The little bones asked.</p><p>Sans hesitated, unsure.</p><p>“Please?”</p><p>Slowly Sans wrapped his arms around Papyrus, lifting him up into his lap; Papyrus snuggled into him.</p><p>“I’m sorry, brother. I didn’t mean to make you cry.” He whispered.</p><p>Sans held on a bit tighter, “No, I’m sorry. I could have broke the news a bit better than I did.”</p><p>His brother shook his head, “No, you were okay. I was just angry.”</p><p>Sans gave a small smile, “So, truce?”</p><p>“Truce.”</p><p>
  <em>Awww, they made up!</em>
</p><p><strong>“D-D-Damn it!” </strong>Error cried,<strong> “You ruined the moment!”</strong></p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Papyrus: *to sans* I hate you! *runs off*<br/>Sans:....<br/>Sans: *gets sad*<br/>Papyrus: *comes running back*<br/>Papyrus: IM SORRY, I DIDNT MEAN IT!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0008"><h2>8. Chapter 8</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Just keep in mind that Error is still watching all this.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">The Dump was an interesting place to be, located in the shadowy depths of Waterfall. Once upon a time it had been a frequent gathering place for the curious and needy, but now no one dared step foot in the watery cavern for very long.</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Well, no one except the daring, local Temmies, and the skeleton brothers.</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">An entire week had gone by since the two had made up, but if Sans was honest the dynamic between them still wasn’t completely back to normal; and that was mostly his fault.</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s2">
    <em>He made to wrap an arm around Papyrus, but the little bones shied away and scooted further down the bench.</em>
  </span>
</p><p class="p2">
  
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s2">
    <em>“What do you know!” Papyrus snapped at him, “You’re not even the slightest bit different!”</em>
  </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">He knew, logically, that Papyrus had just been upset; but he just couldn’t shake the sting of pain lingering in his soul.</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Of all people, Sans knew exactly what his little brother had been feeling- knew exactly what it was like to realize just how alone one was when they broke the pattern- and yet, it wasn’t enough to avoid that situation. Sans hadn’t been enough.</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Yes, Sans had forgiven the little bones, and yes Papyrus had pretty much all but forgot the entire incident (at least as far as he could tell); but it still hurt.</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Worse, his brain wouldn’t stop putting that moment on loop, so now Sans spent several hours unable to concentrate on anything else.</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">The Dump has been his last ditch effort to find something to distract himself with, and so far he was finding zilch.</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Sans brother on the other hand...</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">The elder skeleton glanced over to the small pile of items. It was a bit harder to tell in the dimness of Waterfall, but Papyrus apparently had a sort of theme going on. A blanket with different car patterns, a box of older looking toy cars, and a small pile of dinged up do- uh, action figures.</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">...let’s just say Papyrus was having a great time right now.</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Brother!” He heard Papyrus call from some other pile, “I think I found something!”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Knee deep in junk, Sans could only sigh helplessly, “That’s great Papyrus! What is it?”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Um!” There was a pause and a heavy thud. Sans raised both brows.</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“You okay bro?” He called.</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Yeah! It’s just a lot bigger than I thought it was!”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Sans frowned, curiosity piqued, “Just what did you find?”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“It’s some kind of box!”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Some kind of box?” He repeated to himself. Sans scratched the side of his skull before sighing. Might as well go see what it really is.</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Papyrus listened to the sounds of objects falling and his brother’s cursing with amusement, knowing his brother well enough to imagine him struggling to pull his feet free of the junk only to accidentally loosing his balance and fall harmlessly into the hungry pile. Papyrus knew his brother would loose patience with it soon, and then he’d just roll his way down the mess.</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Frick!” He heard, and just as he imaginedSans came rolling out of the mess, coming just barely in sight; landing with a splash into the softly glowing blue water.</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Nyeh heh heh!” Papyrus giggled into a hand.</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Now soaked to the bone, Sans picked himself up and out of the shallow pool. Papyrus giggles got louder as his brother’s disgruntled face become more clear to him.</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Sans just sighed and trudged his way over. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Once he was within a few feet Sans realized his brother hadn’t found a box, he found a chest.</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Oh, wow.” Sans breathed, taking in the dirty brown wood and the blackened metal clasps. It was still partially covered in junk, but from what he could see it was definitely bigger than Papyrus could carry.</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“What is it?” Papyrus asked, “Is it valuable?” </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Sans started digging it out, trying his best to prevent an avalanche of garbage from burying them both as he excavated the -heh- buried treasure.</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Sort of,” Sans said, throwing a pony figurine over his shoulder, “This is called a chest, and sometimes they have really neat stuff inside them.”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Like what?” Papyrus wondered.</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Well, Grandma used to have one full of pictures and Knick knacks. But I heard some kept clothes or other necessities in case of emergencies.” Sans explained absently, throwing something that might have been a stuffed animal at one point somewhere behind him.</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Papyrus frowned, “Grandma?”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">However Sans didn’t hear him, as focused on the box as he was it had already been a miracle had he even listened to Papyrus’ other questions.</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Ah! Okay!” Sans eyed the cave of junk he’d made over the top of the chest, “On the count of three, I want you to pull on that handle on the other side.”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Papyrus scrambles to do as told, grabbing onto the grimy metal chain on the opposite side of his brother.</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Okay! One, two,” Both tensed, “Three!”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">The two pulled as hard as they could, and together they watched the chest get released carefully from its grave. The minute it left the junk pile, the little cave Sans had made collapsed with a bunch of loud crashes and metallic bangs.</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Ha!” Sans cheered, turning to hold his hand palm up to his little brother, “High five bro! We did it!”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Papyrus beamed and practically slam dunked his hand down onto Sans’, “Heck yeah!”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Now all that was left was to open their prize. Sans found the clasp fairly easily, but when he crouched down and tried to open it, he found himself at a bit of a loss.</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Papyrus? Can you help me figure this out?” He asked his little brother. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Papyrus had a knack for solving things, so Sans didn’t believe for one second that the six year old wouldn’t solve this simple thing in seconds.</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Papyrus leaned over him, looking down at the clasp and humming to himself. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Oh!” He cried, “Those two bits of metal there? Lift them up and then turn the middle bit sideways.”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Two metal...? Oh!</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">The parts he had mistakenly thought were decorative metal mirrored on either side of the clasp lifted slightly under his prodding fingers, and Sans quickly did as instructed; then to his delight the top opened easily with a strange whoosh.</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Sans took a good look inside and was once again left in awe.</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Holy cow, bro. That’s a lot of yarn.”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Papyrus tilted his head and crouched beside the side of the chest, holding onto the side for balance and tentatively poking a soft ball of baby blue. Sans briefly wondered what that color actually looked like to him, but was distracted by a glint of metal sitting in the corner of the inside of the chest.</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Sans blinked and reached in for it, careful not to let his wet jacket drip onto the colorful yarn, but had to curse inwardly when his bony fingers couldn’t grasp it.</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Sometimes being a skeleton had its downsides, and the lack of skin to add traction when grabbing smooth items was pretty quickly rising on his list of most annoying things. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“What are you doing?” Papyrus asked, watching his brother struggle with something thin and metallic.</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Sans huffed in frustration, “I can’t get this stupid-“ the metal thing slid further down towards the bottom of the chest, “-oh, come on!”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Sans started banging his skull on the lid of the chest he was still holding up in frustration. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Brother!” Papyrus cried in alarm, quickly pushing the lid further up so Sans would miss the next hit. Sans had to quickly catch himself or risk his wet ass falling into the well preserved yarn.</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Papyrus, what the heck?” He grumbled. His little brother frowned at him.</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“You shouldn’t do that! You’ll hurt yourself!” The little bones scolded.</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Sans deadpanned at him, “Bro, I didn’t even feel that.”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Papyrus just huffed at him, not deterred in the slightest; Sans groaned.</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Fine, I won’t do it again.” He drawled out. Mentally he added a ‘in front of you’.</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Papyrus grinned in victory before looking back at the thin metal only slightly visible now from where he’s standing. Sans followed his gaze and sighed.</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Why don’t we get all our stuff and go back home? That way we can get cleaned up and I can see what all is in here.” He proposed. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Papyrus nodded and started off for his pile of things, but when Sans didn’t follow after him, he paused and looked over his shoulder nervously.</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Sans wasn’t sure what that look was for but waved a hand at the kid anyway.</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Shoo, shoo, or we’re leaving all those toys behind.” He threatened lightly. Papyrus’ sockets widened in horror and he quickly took off. Sans could only giggle quietly after him.</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Sometimes children were so easy, he thought as he locked the chest back up, and then sometimes they are so, so hard.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">——-</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1"><span class="s1">Nightmare was </span> <span class="s2"><em>starving</em>.</span></p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">He was beyond used to the feeling, as feeding himself was no easy task, but rarely did he ever let himself get to the point where it was all he could think of; and for the last couple of days, Nightmare kept finding himself staring after his subordinates hungrily when they got too close- which actually translated to ‘within his sight’.</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">He was starting to make Horror twitchy.</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Boss, I really think you should go eat.” The famine skeleton insisted, having finally gotten tired of the constant (real) paranoia that the guardian was about to pounce on him while he slept.</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Nightmare teeth shifted into a snarl of frustration, <b>“And where would I go? Those damn Star Sans have got the Light Council on patrol on nearly every major hunting ground I have.”</b></span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Oh, and didn’t that just send his tendrils lashing. How cruel of his brother to have allowed this, how cowardly it all was that they would try to starve him instead of fight.</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">It was completely unlike Nightmare’s brother and his gang, and that worried him.</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Then maybe it’s time you found a minor place?” Horror asked, though it was less asking and more ‘do it’.</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">There was a lot of reasons he shouldn’t, things that needed doing still. The raid he’d been planning for days had been called off with the news Error had brought him, so a new one needed planning (something he was currently doing). He needed to see how safely he could secure a spy, and then plan a plan B should things go wrong. Then, as if they didn’t have enough worries on their hands, the Dark Sans still needed to restock on supplies; there was only so long they could go on rations.</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">But...</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Don’t worry about us, boss,” Horror reassured, that single large eye light of his staring straight through the goopy skeleton, “We can handle ourself here.”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1"> Nightmare frowned, <b>“You all need to eat too. I can wait.”</b></span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Horror shook his head, “You’re no good to us weak with hunger. You’re our way in and out, but you can’t be that if you can’t even make a portal.”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">The guardian and famine skeleton stared each other down for a moment before Nightmare sighed.</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1"><b>“Alright.”</b> He conceded, <b>“Do you think you can last three days or so?”</b></span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Horror’s mouth turned up into a sharp grin, “I’ll make it work.”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1"> <b>“Good.”</b> </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">And with that, Nightmare sank into the ground.</span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Uno: huh, I wonder how an entire chest of yarn got down there?<br/>Dos: beats me. Maybe some old lady lost her stuff in a move?<br/>Salt: *sarcastically* oooh, how mysterious.<br/>Error: *smirking*</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0009"><h2>9. Chapter 9</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Woops, I did a sad.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Today was Saturday and, as per norm, the two skeletons of Snowdin were slowly making their way through the snow covered grounds for the much desired nice cream treat. Unlike numerous previous trips however, Sans was leading Papyrus by the hand through town; their destination, Snowed Inn.</p><p>BB had taken Sans’ advice those two Saturdays ago and moved his cart into town. It had ruined the two’s usual game of I Spy, but Papyrus had been more than happy on the bunny monsters behalf at the sudden boom of business he got (mostly because it meant his favorite treat wasn’t so hard to find anymore). Sans was just relieved at not having to come up with a new game for the smaller skeleton.</p><p>(Sans was admittedly just a bit too happy to avoid the elephant in the room, but old habits are hard to break and this particular habit had practically been etched into his core.)</p><p>Sans cracked a smug grin when the two finally walked past the Gryftmas tree, spotting the decently sized line from the side of the Inn.</p><p>BB looked somewhere between ecstatic and frantic, quickly exchanging money with frozen treats and doing his best to wish everyone a sincere “Hope be with you!” before they went on their way. It was rather impressive how well he was keeping with the pace, considering he’d never had to deal with that many people before.</p><p>Sans stopped for a moment to admire the sight, but Papyrus had other ideas and took off straight for the blue bunny.</p><p>“Ah? Papyrus, wait! You need to go to-“ but the little bones had already gone straight for BB, completely bypassing the line.</p><p>Sans sighed, “-the back of the line.”</p><p>Luckily most of the monsters were parents who were all too familiar with such behavior, so no one was upset with the small setback as he made his way over to the chatting duo; some even giving Sans sympathetic smiles before turning back forward patiently.</p><p>Thank goodness for Snowdin residents and their small town vibes, or Sans would have been an anxious mess right now as he caught up with his little brother.</p><p>“-and then I found this really neat box-“</p><p>“Chest!” Sans corrected as he jogged up behind Papyrus.</p><p>“Yes, that!” Papyrus nodded, “And then Sans piled it all up and we brought it home! So now we’re going to look through it all right after we get some of your nice cream!”</p><p>“Oh my! It sounds like you have quite the adventure ahead of you today!” BB grinned excitedly, hands clapping together.</p><p>Sans patted his brother’s shoulder, “Yes, which is why we’re going to wait in the back of the line like good customers or we’ll have to wait longer to go home and do that stuff.”</p><p>Papyrus pouted sadly up at him, but Sans held fast and only raised a brow down at him. BB merely watched on with an amused smile.</p><p>The little bones huffed and crossed his arms, “Okay. We’ll wait.”</p><p>As if you had a choice, Sans thought with amusement. Outwardly he just grinned and patted his brother’s skull.</p><p>“Atta boy,” he praised before shoving his hands in his jacket pockets and walking towards the end of the line, knowing without looking that Papyrus would follow his lead.</p><p>Sure enough Papyrus quickly waved to the bunny monster (“See you soon!”) and caught up with the taller skeleton, not wanting to be left behind.</p><p>Papyrus had been doing this a lot lately, following Sans around whenever the elder was nearby. Luckily this strange game of follow the leader worked in Sans favor more often than not, so he wasn’t really all that worried about it yet. Sans would also be lying if he said he wasn’t enjoying the attention just a little bit.</p><p>Now if he could just get over his second guessing about initiating contact with Papyrus, Sans thought as his brother tugged on his sleeve.</p><p>“Hand, please.” Papyrus requested when Sans glanced down at him. The elder huffed a laugh and pulled his hand free of his pocket, offering it out to the smaller with a wiggle of his fingers.</p><p>Papyrus giggled and curled his smaller hand around as many fingers as he could, clamping down firmly. When the line moved up, Papyrus was pulling him eagerly forward.</p><p>Eventually they got to the front of the line, and BB met them with just as much enthusiasm as before.</p><p>“Hello again, Papyrus!” The bunny monster smiled, giving Sans’ brother a little wave, “How can I help you on this fine day?”</p><p>Papyrus let go of Sans’ hand and leaned against the mobile fridge, going up on tippy toes to look through the glass doors and grabbing the edge of the cart for balance.</p><p>“Um,” he stared down at what little he could see, glancing between labels critically, “Maybe...watermelon?”</p><p>Sans shuddered and made a face, but quickly hid it when Papyrus glanced back at him. He gave the little bones a thumbs up instead.</p><p>Ugh, the things he did for Papyrus.</p><p>BB dug out the frozen pops and handed them over to Papyrus as Sans scoured the corners of his sweatpants for loose change.</p><p>“30g, right?” He asked BB, pulling out the handful of coins and counting them out in his head. BB nodded with a hum of agreement and patiently waited for the elder skeleton to finish counting, having long learned not to interrupt Sans when he was counting unless you wanted him to start all over; Papyrus watched him impatiently.</p><p>“Okay!” Sans sighed, handing the coins over, “Here yah go, 30g.”</p><p>The bunny monster took it with a smile, “Thank you very much, Sans. May hope be with you.”</p><p>“And you too, BB,” Sans nodded back to the line behind him, “It looks like you’ve got a long day ahead of you.”</p><p>BB beamed, “I know! Isn’t it great?”<br/>
——-</p><p>Sans could almost swear he could hear someone laughing at his predicament right now.</p><p>“Brother, do you need help?” Papyrus asked, halfway through his third row.</p><p>The two had long since searched the chest; coming up with almost every color under the sun, a pair of crochet hooks, three pairs of different sized knitting needles, and finally a book of instructions.</p><p>Thank goodness, because Sans couldn’t crochet to save his life and Papyrus didn’t like the needles at all. For some reason though, Sans couldn’t seem to hold onto the tools (any of them) very well. Papyrus didn’t have a single problem, but for Sans the needles just kept slipping from his grasp; he even tried holding onto them as hard as he could, but the minute he put any sort of pressure on the pointed end it would slide down.</p><p>Sans sighed, frustrated, “Yeah bro, I think I do. How are you holding onto them?”</p><p>Papyrus hummed, “Well...I just am?”</p><p>The little tyke had the nerve to giggle at Sans’ unimpressed frown and wiggle a free hand’s fingers at him.</p><p>“It’s magic~!” He sang.</p><p>“Ha, Ha, Ha. Very funny, Papyrus.” Sans huffed, but made sure there wasn’t any bite behind it.</p><p>Papyrus giggled, “I thought so! But maybe that is the answer? I want to hold it so I am, and Ms. Faun said magic is all about-“ he frowned, “-um...”</p><p>“Intent.” Sans filled in, then frowned thoughtfully.</p><p>“Yeah, that!”</p><p>Sans stared down at his hands. Was that all he was missing? But that didn’t make any sense; he’d been trying for the last, what, ten, twenty minutes? Just to get that slip knot to stick around the needle. Lack of want was not the issue here.</p><p>Actually, had Sans ever actually used his magic before? He tried to think back, but Sans couldn’t remember ever summoning bones out of nowhere or slamming people into the ground with his mind.</p><p>Wow, six years of living in a world surrounded by magic of all sorts, but not once had he ever done more than tele- er, take a shortcut; but then, he’d never really needed anything else, had he?</p><p>Well, there was only one way to fix that. Sans took a calming breath and closed his sockets.</p><p>“Sans?” Papyrus asked, sitting down his string project onto his lap.</p><p>“Shhh, I’m concentrating.” The elder hushed.</p><p>“Oh!” Papyrus quickly lowered his voice to a whisper, “Sorry.”</p><p>Sans cracked a smile, but quickly focused on the foreign heat that swirled in his bones.</p><p>Magic may be a part of him now, but Sans still remembered the aching emptiness and cold of a human body. He had never gotten used to the strange sensation of something almost living shifting and writhing inside him. Sometimes Sans wondered if the magic inside felt the same way about him- unused to something so restricting and ridged around it.</p><p>It had always acted on its own, whether that was to ignore it’s host completely or thrash about angrily when Sans did something it didn’t like, but it always aided him in grand shows of possessiveness when anything his was threatened.</p><p>Maybe there was something seriously wrong with him in the skull, or maybe it was the original Sans’ consciousness making itself known in the only way it could; either way, Sans had to negotiate with magic that didn’t like to participate.</p><p>But maybe just this once we could try to work together? He thought. I really wanted to make some stuff for Papyrus to wear, but I can’t do it if I can’t even hold the damn glorified sticks.</p><p>As if in complete rejection of the idea the magic receded as far away from his hands as it reasonably could, leaving him to flinch and hiss in pain at the sharp stab of aching, cold numbness that spread from fingertips to wrist painfully.</p><p>“Brother?” Papyrus called worriedly, “Are you okay?”</p><p>The magic quickly snapped back into place, just as Sans’ sockets snapped open.</p><p>Sans stared down at his shaking hands with disappointment, “Yeah bro, I’m good.”</p><p>Honestly the skeleton just wanted to cry, but he really should have known it would turn out like this. Good things always came with a catch in Sans experience, and maybe this catch was that he was only meant to look and admire one of his old hobbies from a distance.</p><p>Sensing the beginning of tears forming in the corner of his sockets, Sans casually put the yarn and knitting needles to the side and stood up. Maybe it was for the best; he would have only ruined the colors after a few minutes anyway.</p><p>“It’s about time I made lunch, huh?” Sans asked nonchalantly as he glanced over to the wall clock by the staircase, “Any requests Paps?”</p><p>Papyrus glanced between the discarded hobby and his brother’s significantly dimmer eye lights.</p><p>“Are you sure you’re okay?” He asked tentatively, twisting and untwisting the yarn around the crochet hook.</p><p>“Of course,” Sans chirped, “Why wouldn’t I be?”</p><p>He didn’t give the smaller skeleton a chance to answer before making his way towards the kitchen, listing different dishes as he went.</p><p>“-oh, and there’s spaghetti! Have you ever had spaghetti before? I don’t think I’ve ever made it, but who knows. Maybe Grillby made it for you once.”</p><p>Papyrus watched him go helplessly, knowing something was wrong but not sure how to fix it.<br/>
——-</p><p>That night Sans dreamt of standing under a galaxy of stars- thousands, millions- all twinkling and sparkling in their own wonderful shades of colors. Blue ones, green ones, purple ones; oh how he loved the purple ones!</p><p>Empty sockets wide with awe, Sans reached out as if to grab one out of the sky itself, and to his surprise it worked!</p><p>He pulled a little lavender spark back down to him and watched it hover merrily in his palms, dancing and spinning and giggling as if it was having the greatest time just being beside him; and he giggled back just as blissfully, filled with a simple sort of happiness.</p><p>Then it stopped, frozen.</p><p>“...little light?” He whispered, dread creeping up his spine. He watched in growing horror as slowly the beautiful purple glow started draining out of it, bleached out by a starkly contrasting white yellow.</p><p>The light began whimpering, then crying, then screaming as if in horrible pain.</p><p>Sans desperately tried to stop whatever was happening, doing everything from saying soothing words to trying to send it back up into the sky, but nothing worked and eventually the little light quieted.</p><p>“Little light?” Sans asked once more, full of urgency.</p><p>It didn’t giggle, it didn’t dance; it didn’t even move, just hovering quietly in his palms.</p><p>Sans could do nothing but stare into it’s glowing core with growing horror. The stars around him had long fled in terror, leaving his poor victim to light the darkness around him.</p><p>The right thing would have been to let the little light go, but his own fear held it in place. If Sans let it go, he would be alone in the darkness; he needed it!</p><p>Fate, however, had other plans. Before his empty sockets, the light started burning out any color it had left.</p><p>“No, no please!” He begged, “I’m sorry, so please don’t go!”</p><p>His pleading went unheard, and then the white star began burning the only thing it had left, itself.</p><p>“No, no, no!” He cried, “Please!”</p><p>It continued on, unaffected by his growing distress.</p><p>“What do I do? What do I do?!” He asked, looking to the darkness for answers.</p><p><em><b>Eat it.</b></em> Something whispered.</p><p>“W-what?”</p><p>
  <em>
    <b>Eat it.</b>
  </em>
</p><p>Sans hesitated, unsure, but the star started dimming even quicker. If he didn’t do something now, he’d loose his chance to do anything in the next few seconds.</p><p><em><b>Eat it!</b></em> The voice demanded again.</p><p>This time he didn’t hesitate and shoved the dim star into his mouth, swallowing it whole.</p><p>It was sharp and hot, and the corners scratched and seared on the way down, but he did it.</p><p>“I’m sorry,” he choked out past the pain and his own tears, “I’m sorry!”</p><p>Eventually a puddle of bright white grew around his bare feet, and when he looked down it reflected his face back up at him; He finally had eye lights.</p><p>Somewhere in the darkness behind him, a teal light watched with interest.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Sans: ha! Who even needs magic anyway?!<br/>Sans:<br/>Sans: *sad sigh* skeletons do.</p><p> </p><p>Btw! I have an Instagram now! Woo! Imma share it with y’all so you can see the lovely bit of fanart a lovely reader made!<br/>KimberlyLikesCherries, with a picture of a cake.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0010"><h2>10. Omake</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Pssst. Papyrus Cult!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“What the actual hell?”</p><p>Papyrus jumped enthusiastically up and down on the fresh new mattress for his brightly colored red race car bed.</p><p>Which he did not have yesterday.</p><p>“This is-great!” Papyrus giggled out between jumps, “When did-you do-this?”</p><p>“Uh...I didn’t.” Sans denied, frowning.</p><p>Sans knows, he would remember luging around an entire bed frame and mattress through the house. He’d had to do that when Papyrus outgrew his crib.</p><p>Papyrus slowly stopped bouncing, “But then-where did-it come from?”</p><p>Sans shrugged, “Don’t know. Want me to check it real quick?”</p><p>“Um...” Papyrus hummed and stared down at the messed up bed spread under his feet, “...No? I think I’m good.”</p><p>Sans stared down at the bed as well, but shrugged. He wasn’t feeling any bad vibes coming off it, so whoever did this couldn’t have meant any harm; though it was just the littlest bit creepy that they’d managed to do this without either skeleton noticing.</p><p>“Right.” Sans shook himself and started heading back to Papyrus’ open bedroom door, “Well, I’m going back down stairs; do you need anything, Paps?”</p><p>“Nope!” The little bones chirped, returning to his previous solo game of jumping on the bed.</p><p>Sans smiled at him over his shoulder, “Just be careful, okay? Falling off ain’t going to feel very good.”</p><p>“I-will!” Papyrus sang.</p><p>Sans shook his head and left the door open behind him, just in case.</p><p>The elder skeleton went for the stairs, taking them two at a time as he went down. He did his best to ignore the chest in the living room and walked right up towards the kitchen, walking past the dining table.</p><p>Suddenly Sans paused, then walked backwards a couple of steps. He had sworn he saw-</p><p>Sure enough, something he didn’t recognize was sitting on the dining table.</p><p>“What the hell?” He muttered, carefully picking up what appeared to be a photo album of some sort. Sans hadn’t seen one of these in years, but he still recognized the shape and the strange plastic-y page edges he could see on the side.</p><p>It wasn’t labeled or anything, so Sans had little choice but to open it up if he wanted answers.</p><p>Reluctantly, he did; opening the book like it was more likely to explode on him that hold pictures. Instead of exploding however, a single page of notebook paper fell out onto the floor.</p><p>“Ah, shit.” Sans muttered, leaning down to pick it up. He was already halfway through reading it before he’d even stood back up all the way.</p><p>“Dear Sans,” he muttered out loud, “We realized you were kind of down. So we put together this scrapbook of baby photos of Papyrus in hopes to cheer you up.”</p><p>The skeleton frowned and flipped the paper around, but couldn’t find any name or signature on it. He sighed, but sat it down gently on the table and turned back to the album, opening it more carefully this time.</p><p>Sans took one glance and could do little more than gaps down at the first page before flipping to the next hurriedly, Barely looking at the contents for longer than a moment.</p><p>Dozens upon dozens of smiling faces stared up at him; all mostly of Papyrus from the age range of a few months to five-six years of age, but a few of him as well sharing a frame with his brother.</p><p>Incredulously Sans flipped back to the beginning and dragged out a chair, sitting down into it heavily and starting back over from the beginning.</p><p>He spent the rest of the day looking through it all.<br/>
——-</p><p>Somewhere in the universe, hunting for a fresh meal, was a Nightmare minding his own business in the moonlit night of an AU. He had even started hovering around a possible hunting ground when out of nowhere something smacked into the back of his skull and clattered to the ground with a chittering clink.</p><p><b>“Gah!”</b> The goopy skeleton hissed, clutching his skull and twisting around angrily; tendrils sharpening into points as they thrashed out at his assailant.</p><p>Except no one was there, instead an innocently cracked vial laid at his feet.</p><p><b>“What the actual fuck?”</b> Nightmare muttered, staring down at the glass dubiously. Cautiously glanced around as he did, Nightmare picked it up.</p><p><b>“Strange,”</b> he murmured, <b>“Who leaves vials of emotions lying around?”</b></p><p>He shrugged to himself and pocketed it, <b>“Well, it’s mine now.”</b></p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0011"><h2>11. Chapter 11</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>https://youtu.be/sDpE_6uLUHE</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Sans wandered the forest of Snowdin at a brisk pace, staring at the ground numbly as he walked, hands shaking in his pockets.</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">He knew what was happening, Sans was intimately familiar with the process; the shaking, the numb ache in his chest, the feeling like something was going so, so wrong inside him. Sans didn’t want Papyrus to see him like that, so he threw some kind of excuse at the little bones and left the house in a hurry.</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Sans knew it was stupid, knew that the walk wouldn’t help in the slightest, but he had to try. Maybe this time he’d get lucky and actually break down this time.</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Anything was better that this hellish limbo he was stuck in.</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Without warning, something large sped past the skeleton, tearing through the snow at high speeds and leaving a path of crushed snow in its wake.</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Holy crap!” Sans squeaked out, staring after the thing as it rolled off towards the line of pine trees. Dumbfounded, he watched it hit one with a resounding BANG; the tree shaking violently, showering down snow and pine needles. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">For a terrifying second Sans wondered if the conifer was going to fall over, but then it settled back down, much to his relief.</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Damn, If he had just taken two steps more...</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Sans shook that thought away, just in time to hear a pained groan coming from the scene before him.</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Wha-?” the skeleton squinted into the distance, trying to see what was making that noise. Whatever it was had been buried under the fallen debris, so it was hard to tell.</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Suddenly an arm shot out of the mess, standing straight into the air like something out of an old B rated zombie movie.</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“What the fuck?!” Sans yelped, eye lights shrinking into pinpricks as he jumped back.</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">He heard the groan again, and suddenly it clicked that the thing he’d just seen fly by was a person.</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Oh shit!” He exclaimed, running over in a dead sprint.</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Hey!” He called, “Hey, are you okay?!”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">——</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Error woke up in very unwelcome pain, surrounded by a blurry mess of colors.</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Oh hey,” A warm voice said beside him, “You’re finally awake. I was beginning to wonder if I needed to go get Alphys.”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Error blinked and squinted over to the blurred figure beside him. Damn, that tree must have knocked his head around a lot harder than he thought.</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Uh...hello?” The blurred figure greeted unsurely. The best Error could make out was lots of black and yellow, and then a white circular shape where the glitch could only assume a head was.</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">With dread, he realized it had to be a skeleton; and few who wore yellow were on friendly terms with the Destroyer.</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Error sat up and started patting himself down, trying to find his glasses in his clothes. It was risky to show weakness to a complete stranger (he hoped, anyway), but he couldn’t see for shit right now. He needed to know who he was dealing with.</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Much to his relief, Error found them still in a small fitted pocket on the inside of his jacket, their usual place. Error quickly pulled the red frames out and slid them on.</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Oh,” the figure said, surprised, “I guess that answers some things.”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Vision clearing a bit, Error blinked and really looked at his host, only to freeze.</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">The Sans he had been watching for the last three days sat beside him, not on the couch but on a coffee table across from it, smiling at him like he was relieved. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Oh, this is bad.</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Hi?” Sans raised a brow and waved a hand in front of himself in amusement, “You can see me now, right?”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1"><b>“Of course I can-n-n!”</b> Error snapped back thoughtlessly, <b>“I just d-d-didn’t think I’d ever see such a stupid face in real life-fe-fe!”</b></span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Sans flinched back, and immediately Error regretted opening his mouth.</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Any bit of friendliness drained from the skeletons face, and Sans’ smile fell as flat as the coffee table he sat on, “Right. Well, atleast you aren’t suffering any obvious head trauma, I think. I didn’t get the chance to check.”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Error grimaced, <b>“W-w-wait, I didn’t mean-“</b></span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Can I come out now?” A higher pitched voice interrupted from somewhere behind Error. The glitch tensed and tried to turn around, but had to turn back forward when a strong bout of nausea hit him.</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Sans sighed deeply beside him. Before he realized what was happening, something warm dropped onto his shoulders. Error jumped, but when he looked it was just a worn out old blanket.</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“I said no, Papyrus,” Sans called back sternly as he sat back down, “I doubt our guest is feeling up to a whole lot of talking right now.”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Error fingered the edges of the blanket, looking down into his lap quietly. Sans wasn’t wrong, but the Destroyer got the feeling it was more for Papyrus’ benefit than his own right now.</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Awww.” He heard the little bones whine. Papyrus must have made some sort of face, because Sans groaned quietly.</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Mmmaybe he wouldn’t mind a picture or two?” Sans offered, “It might make him feel better. Might.”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Oh! That’s a great idea!” The little skeleton eagerly shouted back, “Thank you brother!” </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">The Destroyer heard the soft click of a door from the same direction, and the room got quiet.</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Error reluctantly focused his attention back on the other skeleton in the room, only to tense up more when he realized Sans was staring down at him, head leaning into a palm with a tired frown.</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“You look like you’ve seen a ghost.” Sans tried to joke with a smile, but it lacked the usual energy and good humor. No doubt thanks to Error’s stupid mouth.</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Error chose to stay silent.</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Sans smile fell, and with a sigh he scratched the side of his skull tiredly, “Look, I get it if you’re a bit scared right now, but it’s been a long day and I ain’t plannin’ on hurting you.” He tilted his head towards where his brother had just been, “Nor is he. We just want you to be okay and enjoy our dinner in peace, is that okay?”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Error looked back down at his lap, <b>“It’s fi-i-ine.”</b></span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">He could feel the other’s eye lights burning into his skull before Sans groaned loud and dramatically.</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Man, this day!” He whined, standing up with a grunt and slowly making his way towards the kitchen.</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1"><b>“Uh- H-hey! W-w-wait! Where are you going?”</b> Error cried, starting to get up before the nausea hit him again and he was forced to sit back down.</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Sans raised a brow at him from over his shoulder, “The kitchen? It’s dinner time, and I’ve got mouths to feed.”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1"><b>“M-mouths to f-f-feed?”</b> Didn’t he only have Papyrus?</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Yeah. You and my brother?”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1"><b>“Y-y-you’re going to feed me-e-e too?”</b> The glitch asked in surprise.</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Sans frowned at him, “Well, I ain’t letting you starve.” </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">When Error did little more than stare blankly at him, Sans grumbled and shook his head.</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Papyrus!” He shouted unexpectedly towards the direction of the stairs, startling his poor guest, “Come get your soup!”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">——</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Error stated down at his bowl of soup with a frown.</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“You can eat that, you know,” Sans encouraged quietly, aware of the nosy little skeleton watching them with wide sockets, “It’s not poisoned or anything.”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Sans had chosen to bring dinner to the coffee table, dressing up the furniture like a mini dining table purely for Papyrus’ benefit and great amusement. The two hosts sat on the floor with their own nearly empty bowls, silently eating their dinner. Sans had insisted Error stay on the couch.</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">The Destroyer didn’t really get why Sans had gone to all this effort, but Error was sort of enjoying it. it was...different.</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Except he had no idea how to eat this stuff.</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">
    <b>“U-u-uh...” </b>
  </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Don’t over think it,” Sans advised, “Just do what feels natural.”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Error stared down into the bowl. ‘What feels natural,’ huh? </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Sans choked on a spoonful of soup, watching Error practically unhinge his jaw and drop the entire dish into his mouth, multiple tongues pulling it in like a giant squid pulls down a ship into the ocean. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">The skeleton could hear the sound of ceramic crunching as Error chewed, and then a strange sound like something clinking together and being grinded into dust as he swallowed it down.</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Papyrus broke into gleeful giggles, amused in a way only kids could be, but Sans watched him in mild terror. T-that was almost worse than eating straight glass! How had the dark skeleton not keeled over yet?!</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“How did you do that?” Papyrus asked, staring up at the older skeleton with giggly wonder.</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Error shrugged, but Sans still noticed how the glitch puffed out his chest, <b>“I don’t know-ow-ow. It’s just something I-I-I can do.”</b></span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Papyrus’ practically had stars in his sockets, “That’s so cool!” </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">No it is not! Sans screamed in his head. He was tempted to scold the glitch furiously, but- well, he looked so proud of himself. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Just this once, then.</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Just don’t try that yourself bro,” Sans warned, “This guy must be made of some real tough stuff to be able to pull that off.”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Eventually Sans and his brother finished their own soup; the normal way of course, though Sans did give his brother a bit of the stink eye when he tried to nibble on his spoon.</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">He thought he saw the glitch smile at that in the corner of his socket, but when Sans snapped his skull around the other’s face was carefully blank.</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">He squinted suspiciously at the skeleton, but turned back when his brother called his name.</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Yeah?” Sans asked.</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Can I go play with the yarn?” Papyrus asked, wiggling on his spot on the ground, “I’m all finished, so...”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Sans soul dropped, looking over to the chest in the corner of the room. Of course, he didn’t let his face change at all.</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Sure, have at it Paps.” </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Woohoo!” Papyrus cheered, jumping up and racing away.</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">As the little bones opened the chest, Sans firmly turned away; instead he started cleaning up, piling dishes carefully atop each other.</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">
    <b>“...a-a-are you-“</b>
  </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Sans blinked and looked over to his guest, “Hmm?”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">The dark skeleton frowned at his lap and fidgeted with the edge of the old blanket on his shoulders.</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1"><b>“Is there something w-w-wrong with that box?”</b> He finally asked.</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Sans gently sat the dishes back down, “...Yes, and no. I just- It’s kind of silly...”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1"><b>“I’ll listen-en-en,”</b> the other offered quietly, <b>“I-I-If you want to talk about it?”</b></span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Sans smiled, “Man, for a skeleton who almost took my head off earlier you’re surprisingly nice.”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Error sputtered, face warming with a blush, <b>“I d-d-didn’t mean to! I w-w-was just-“</b></span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“-scared.” Sans cut in gently, “I know. It’s okay.”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">The two fell into silence for a moment and Sans scratching the side of his skull.</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“...that chest...”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">The Destroyer tilted his head questioningly, and Sans sighed.</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Do you see what my brother is doing there?” He asked, nodding his head over to the little tyke, “Holding the crochet hook and all that?”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Error nodded.</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“I can’t do it,” Sans frowned deeply, “The tools just...slip through my hands.”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">The skeleton huffed a sad little laugh when he saw the frown on Error’s face, “I know. Like I said, it’s silly. I just...the whole thing just kinda reminded me of some stuff I thought I forgot about and now I can hardly look at it without feeling sort of...oh, what’s the word?” </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Sans gave the other a strained smile, “I just sort of feel stupid. Like, I should have known better but still wanted to believe- but it just ended up being another cruel-“</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">
    <b>“-Trick.”</b>
  </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Sans blinked in surprise, “Yeah, that.”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Error stated down at his lap solemnly, feeling an all too familiar feeling of guilt.</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Sans’ smile fell then quickly turned sheepish, “Sorry, I said too much didn’t I?”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">The yellow skeleton quickly pushed himself up before Error could say anything, dusting himself down.</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Well, it’s getting late,” Sans tried not to look at the glitchy skeleton, “I need to get these dishes clean before Papyrus’ bed time.”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">When he didn’t hear an answer, Sans turned back to his guest; but the dark skeleton was gone, only the old blanket crumpled up in his spot as evidence that he’d ever been there in the first place.</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">The ache in Sans’ bones came back twice as strong. He didn’t even wait for Papyrus’ drawings.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">——</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Dream blinked awake, golden lights staring up at a dark concrete ceiling.</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Oh hey!” Ink muttered tiredly from beside him, “It’s about time you woke up.”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Dream yawned and sat up, reaching up to rub a socket. The sound of shaking chains accompanied the action, startling him further awake.</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Blue’s still asleep though,” the Creator continued, tightening his arms around said sleeping skeleton, “So maybe keep it down?”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Dream nodded tiredly, “Sorry, I keep forgetting. Has he come down yet?”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Ink’s eye lights switched to a faded blue and purple, a triangle and circle in that order.</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Not yet,” he murmured, “But it feels like any minute now.”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Sure enough, as if speaking of the devil, a heavy metal door gently swung open, spilling light into the room.</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Both skeletons flinched back; Ink raised a hand to cover his sockets, but Dream just squinted through it to the shadowed figure in the doorway.</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Sorry I’m late,” the figure said quietly as they closed the door behind them, “Got held up by some business.”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Ink shot them a stained grin as his eye lights adjusted, waving a hand dismissively, “Ah, don’t worry about it. Things happen.”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Out of curiosity,” Dream whispered, blinking spots out of his vision before glancing cautiously at the sleeping Blue, “Just what business held you back?”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Their visitor hummed, “Oh, nothing bad. I just had to make sure your precious Light Council didn’t kill Error.”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">The two awake skeletons tensed, Ink curling more around his friend.</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“What did you do to them?” The Creator hissed, eye lights a faded red crosshair and orange square.</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Don’t worry, they’re fine.” The new skeleton sighed, crouching to slide a previously unseen tray of food under the bars of their cell, “I just portal’ed Error out of a tough situation is all.”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">The color bomb shot Dream a look, and the guardian sighed.</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“He’s not lying Ink.” Dream whispered, carefully pushing himself up onto tired legs. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">They’d been here for stars knew how long now, and it was starting to take it’s toll.</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Error has never needed help before.” Ink muttered angrily into his scarf.</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Error has also never had to fight more than five Sans’ at a time,” At the two skeletons questioning look, their ‘host’ elaborated, “Your ‘Light Council’ has decided to take matters into their own hands and end your opposition. They think the ‘Dark Sans’ have you in some dungeon hide out hole in the wall, so they’ve started a campaign of gorilla warfare in order to find you.”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Dream frowned worriedly, “How so?”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">The skeleton waved a hand around vaguely, “Oh, you know. Ambushes, sabotage,” he glanced down at the still untouched tray, “Starvation.”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Ink flashed a glare at him even as Dream gasped in horror, “Now I know you’re lying! Our friends would never go that far.”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“And you’d be right,” the skeleton nodded, “But not all of the council are your friends, are they?”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">When the two fell silent, their ‘host’ smiled.</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“The ‘Light Council’ is a sham, and it’s about time you saw what they’re truly like without you around.” The skeleton continued, “Your friends are doing their best to stop it, but the others are so focused on their fear and hate they can’t even see that the path their on will only lead to suffering.”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">His eye lights, two piercing orbs of white, snapped to Dream; freezing the guardian into place.</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“You of all people should know what I’m talking about, Guardian of Positivity.”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Dream flinched and frowned down sadly at the stone floor beneath his feet. He did; he really, really did.</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Ink hid his face in the crook of Blue’s neck vertebrae. He hoped his friend’s dreams were much better than their grim reality right now.</span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Dream: just who are you anyway?<br/>Skeleton: a big ass fucking plot point<br/>Dream: oh shit</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0012"><h2>12. Chapter 12</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Woops, it’s short. I’m also going to have to add a tag I think, because Fate has issues and Nightmare doesn’t know the meaning of Crush and goes right into “I want that.”</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Cursing, Error scrambled to his feet and shook an angry fist into the air.</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1"> <b>“Wha-a-at the hell! Why in the void w-w-would you summon me back n-n-now of all-?!“</b> </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1"> <b> <em>Hello, mistake.</em> </b> </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">The Destroyer froze, jaw clicking shut quietly.</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1"> <b> <em>Why did you stop? Do go on! I’d like to know what has my most hated creation in such a tizzy!</em> </b> </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1"><b>“N-nothing!”</b> Error exclaimed quickly, forcing himself to take on a more submissive pose instead of the defensive one his body wanted to form, <b>“I w-w-was just-“</b> he looked around frantically for an excuse, <b>“-just in the mi-i-iddle of scoping out another universe! To d-d-destroy!”</b></span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1"> <b> <em>Mm, I see.</em> </b> </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Snaking out of the depths of the anti-void, red strings as sharp as razor wire snapped out at the poor glitch, catching his neck vertebrae and wrists in a painfully tight hold and pulling taunt, forcing his arms out opposite directions.</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1"><b>“Gck!”</b> Error choked, little blue tears instantly gathering in the corners of his sockets. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Fate’s strings <em>burned</em>.</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Though his suffering in that moment was obvious for any sane person to see, it went unheeded by the Destroyer’s “dear mother,” just as it always did.</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1"> <b>You would do well to remember not to lie to me, boy. </b>He heard Fate’s voice warn quietly behind his left shoulder.<b> Or do we need another lesson?</b> </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1"><b>“N-no.”</b> The Destroyer gasped out, doing his best to go limp like a doll in the string’s grasp. The entity liked him best when Error didn’t resist.</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">For a second those horrible threads tightened almost unbearably, and Error feared that (much like his tears) his answer would be disregarded altogether; but then, with a demented little giggle, they dropped away and dissolved into the endless white like they were never there to begin with.</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Error fell to his knees, gasping for breath as his arms laid limply at his sides. Mentally the glitch noted that he was going to have to hide the new cuts, just on the off chance the dark Sans’ spotted them and badgered him about it again.</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1"> <b> <em>I just wanted to inform you that someone else has appeared in the multiverse. Someone powerful. They’ve kidnapped my child and his precious little toys, and I want them gone. Should you encounter this abomination, you are to k i l lt h e mo ns i g h t. Do you understand?</em> </b> </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">When Error didn’t answer right away, Fate’s presence bared down onto him, crushing what little air he’d just gotten right back out of him.</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1"> <b> <em>D oy o uu n d e r s t a n d?</em> </b> </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1"><b>“Y-yes-s-s-!”</b> He wheezed out, nodding frantically even though both actions hurt almost as much as the act of the strings cutting into his neck vertebrae had.</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1"><b><em>Good,</em></b> The entity hummed pleasantly, <em><b>See you around my most worthless calamity.</b></em></span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Error stayed quietly in his place on the floor.</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1"><em>...she’s gone.</em> The kind voice whispered, earning a twin sigh of relief from the other two. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1"> <em>Error-</em> </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1"> <em>No dude, leave him be. He’s had enough for today.</em> </span>
</p><p class="p2">
  
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1"> <em>...Fair enough.</em> </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Error did little more than curl up and cry for awhile after that.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">——-</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">In nature, there exists a great many forms of predation. Parasites, pack runners, opportunist, lone wolves, and (Nightmare’s personal favorite) the ambush predators.</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">In every world the guardian has encountered, there existed one universal constant he had long learned to exploit; the fact that every Sans had near constant nightmares, even the ever positive Swap Sans’. All Nightmare had to do was find one such skeleton with a decent level of negativity in their system and wait for night to fall; such as now, for instance. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">The goopy skeleton stood at the side of the bed, looming over the slowly drifting Sans with fraying patience. His tendrils, ever obedient, held still in their position high above their master’s head with the exception of small twitches at the tips; which he allowed.</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Had Sans woken up in that moment, he might have mistaken the sharp, crooked form of the Guardian’s tendrils as the poised legs of a spider about to strike; and then he would have promptly passed out in terror, thinking he was about to be eaten alive.</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">It was by the mercy of the stars then that he was left unaware. Nightmare’s hunger was not for the faint of soul.</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">The goopy skeleton awaited the moment his newest meal formed eagerly. Any moment now the familiar signs of his namesake would appear on the prone skeleton, and once more he would get to enjoy this Sans’ intriguing flavors.</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">The multiverse was filled to the brim with so many interesting and different textures and spices, and every meal was new and exciting when he allowed himself a true moment to enjoy it all, but every once in awhile Nightmare did find favorites. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">This Sans had only had the misfortune of feeding him once, but that had been enough for the guardian to decree a new favorite to his list and tempt him to another round while he could.</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">He had to wonder, would it be the blend of that uniquely spicy fear and tangy regret like last time, or would it be something new? Certainly there was a high chance of anxiety if the skeleton’s observations earlier today was any indication; but would it taste like the sour of lemons, the electrical zing of batteries, or something completely unexpected and new?</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Nightmare didn’t have to wonder for long, as in his presence it was near impossible to avoid unpleasant dreams. The moment the goopy skeleton spotted the Sans face scrunch up in some unclear emotion, he struck. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Tendrils launched forward swiftly and, much in the likeness of the spider he appeared to be at the moment, coiled tightly around Sans prone form like a cocoon, pushing off the fluffy blankets; though it wasn’t meant for squeezing or harming so much as immobilizing the other in place while the guardian moved up onto the bed and straddled the unconscious prey at the hips.</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">(Once upon a time he might have been self conscious of being in such a position, but Nightmare had long gotten over such a thing. Food was food; how he got it mattered very little in the long run.)</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Carefully he braced both hands on either side of the Sans skull, leaning down to softly tap his forehead against the other’s before more surely resting it there. For some reason unclear to him in that moment, Nightmare took the opportunity to gaze at the face of his unwitting benefactor.</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Nightmare had sometimes been described as a sadistic bastard of a skeleton by enemies and comrades alike, but rarely did he enjoy the suffering of allies; and thus it came to him as a surprise that this Sans’ face, twisted in fear as it was, would spark a certain feeling of dislike in his corrupted apple soul. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">This Sans was not an ally, so why did Nightmare find the look of freight so unappealing on this skeletons face?</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Lost in thought as he was, Nightmare didn’t notice how his tense form slowly drooped, or how his tendrils seemed to untwine the littlest bit- becoming a sort of loose hug instead of the inescapable restraints it had been. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">(Sans shivered, suddenly exposed to the cool air of his room.)</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">The longer he lingered in the skeleton’s presence, the more relaxed his form became. It got to the point his socket started drooping and a pleased purr started vibrating through his chest, and Nightmare only snapped out of it when he felt arms wrap around his ribs; pulling him down onto their owner after having somehow snuck their way past his tendrils. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">He had only a moment to realize he was being held before Nightmare’s weight was shifted to the side, laying down on what little of the mattress wasn’t being taken up by Sans as he curled himself around the slightly smaller Nightmare with a shiver.</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“...pap?” Sans mumbled.</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Nightmare froze, socket wide with apprehension. Had the other woken up? </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">A quiet moment passed, then another, and Nightmare breathed a sigh of relief as he realized that, no, the skeleton was just talking in his sleep.</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">This-...this hadn’t been part of the plan at all. He just came for some food, but now Nightmare wasn’t sure he could eat without adding to the guilt that crawled on his back.</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Damn it, and he had really liked the feel of that nightmare too. The guardian would have bet one of his hunting grounds that this one would have been one of the most delicious meals he’d had in a while.</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">...Nightmare could always ask, though, couldn’t he? Dream did it all the time back when they were younger; and even now, he would bet, with his own allies. So what’s stopping Nightmare from doing the same? </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Nightmare grinned, a plan forming in his skull.</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">He already seemed to be attached in some way, so why not see where that goes and get some good food out of it at the same time?</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">The guardian mentally nodded and settled a bit in the skeleton’s hold, deciding that after he was done with his previous engagements he would return and explore this strange feeling of his.</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Nightmares tendrils pulled the sleeping Sans closer, responding to some unknown desire that their master had yet to realize.</span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>NM: what is this feeling?<br/>Sans: uh, emotions?<br/>NM: I’m well aware of that, but of what?<br/>Sans: um...frrrriendship?<br/>NM:<br/>NM: I need to go fight my brother for a moment.<br/>NM: Dream always has the answers.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0013"><h2>13. Chapter 13</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>In which we find out something interesting and Sans has trouble connecting the dots.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Sans stared down apprehensively at the journal that laid innocently on his post’s countertop. Papyrus was in class and no one was likely to bother Sans for hours, but still the skeleton hesitated.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Two nights before, Sans had encountered a glitch- no, the glitch. How did he know it was the glitch? Simple, he’d written down the skeleton’s almost exact description years ago. And wasn’t that creepy, to have known about a person long before they were even a thought in your mind?</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">The entire encounter was bothering him, and Sans couldn’t pin down the exact reason why, so he was left to search out answers in his handy dandy journal of, well, answers. The one he always kept on him. The one he was going to open up and read right now.</span>
</p><p class="p2">A moment of inaction passed, and Sans sighed.</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Just open it, ya dingus.” He groused to himself, “You haven’t felt like you’ve been watched in days so this is possibly the best moment to do this!”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">But still he hesitated. In complete frustration, Sans lifted his own hand and slammed it down onto the cover.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">There! He thought, Now just open it!</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">His hand reluctantly did so, and finally Sans was looking down at the first page.</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1"> <em>Dear [REDACTED],</em> </span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1"> <em>If you’re reading this, then I’m dead.<br/></em> </span>
</p><p class="p1">Sans snorted to himself.</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1"> <em>Ha! Sorry, couldn’t resist. Actually, if you’re reading this, then what’s probably happened is that you forgot something somewhere along the line and for some reason it’s bothering you now. </em> </span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1"> <em>In case you forgot this as well, this is your memory journal. Written by you, for you, and with all the memories of you a few weeks in of raising a tiny babybones that I think is called Papyrus. Unfortunately there doesn’t seem to be anyone I can ask for clarification regarding this matter at the moment.</em> </span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1"> <em>Perhaps that’s for the best. No one seems to know me either, much like how I imagined this scenario.</em> </span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1"> <em>So! Right here on the first few pages (depending on if I can get through all the main points without wandering) is a comprehensive list of things you’re probably going to need to know or things that are important in like, a worst case scenario sort of thing. For example, what do you do if you come across a dark boned and glitching skeleton?</em> </span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Sans perked up.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1"><em>The answer is run for the hills</em> (“Oh.”), <em>but there really isn’t anywhere you can go down here. I’ll elaborate more when I reach that section in the journal though, so don’t freak out just yet.</em></span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1"> <em>Now, onward to the Index!</em> </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Sans flipped to the next page carefully, aware of the aging pages loose grip in the binding at the journal’s spine. This book of notes was almost six years old, and was the closest equivalent to the Bible in Sans’ eye lights- that is to say, read often and borderline sacred.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">The next page was a neatly listed (though also thoroughly highlighter marked) series of bullet points.</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1"> <em>Index:</em> </span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1"> <em> <span class="u">Before:</span> </em> </span>
</p><ul class="ul1">
<li class="li1"><span class="s1"><em>Who you are Pg. 1</em></span></li>
<li class="li1"><span class="s1"><em>What life was like Pg. 3</em></span></li>
<li class="li1"><span class="s1"><em>Your family Pg. 5</em></span></li>
<li class="li1"><span class="s1"><em>Your friends Pg. 10</em></span></li>
</ul><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1"> <em> <span class="u">Now:</span> </em> </span>
</p><ul class="ul1">
<li class="li1"><span class="s1"><em>What is this place? Pg. 13</em></span></li>
<li class="li1"><span class="s1"><em>What to do now? Pg. 18</em></span></li>
<li class="li1"><span class="s1"><em>What to expect when you’re expecting? Pg. 21</em></span></li>
<li class="li1"><span class="s1"><em>Who can you trust? Pg. 23</em></span></li>
</ul><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1"> <em> <span class="u">People/Things to be aware of:</span> </em> </span>
</p><ul class="ul1">
<li class="li1"><span class="s1"><em>Resets and time shenanigans Pg. 24</em></span></li>
<li class="li1"><span class="s1"><em>Frisk/Chara Pg. 25</em></span></li>
<li class="li1"><span class="s1"><em>Flowey Pg. 26</em></span></li>
<li class="li1"><span class="s1"><em>Outcodes Pg. 27</em></span></li>
<li class="li1"><span class="s1"><em>Path to Yellow Pg. 36</em></span></li>
</ul><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Sans quickly scanned the list, dragging his index finger lightly down the yellowed page to the section titled “Outcodes,” before tapping down onto the word with a little, “a-ha!” </span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Flipping to that section delicately, aware of the many loose pages halfhazardly shoved into different sections of the journal, the skeleton landed on page twenty-seven.</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1"> <em> <span class="u">Outcodes:</span> </em> </span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1"> <em>Right, so I don’t know how accurate anything I write here is going to be. If these Outcodes even exist, there are so many different versions of how they were written that there is simply no guarantee any of this is actually true. So take this with a grain of salt, me.</em> </span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1"> <em>First thing you’re going to have to understand is that Outcodes are not necessarily a bad thing. Simply put, Outcodes are just people (and things?) that roam the multiverse (which might be a thing? Hopefully I won’t have to explain that one to you).</em> </span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1"> <em>There are so many possible wanderers you could meet, but the main five you have to look out for are called Error, Ink, Nightmare, Dream, and Fresh.</em> </span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1"> <em>The next few pages are going to be as much “facts” and details I can remember off the top of my head. Hopefully these notes won’t be necessary though.</em> </span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1"> <em>Stars, I hope I’ll never need these.</em> </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Sans sighed quietly to himself, “Sorry past me, looks like we got the short straw again.”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">He flipped to the next section. The next two pages to be revealed were a sort of side by side set. One had notes, the other as many detailed drawings (scribbles really) as Sans could have done off of his quickly fading memory back then.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">His guest from Sunday stared back up at him. Greedily, Sans read on.</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1"> <em> <span class="u">Error:</span> </em> </span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1"> <em>The first and most important thing you have to know about this guy is that his title is “Destroyer of Worlds.” This is the guy I was talking about in my opening statement, and this is the guy who will probably end our entire existence should he show up looking like he’s ready for a fight. </em> </span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1"> <em>There is no way you can stop him. Error is the be all end all, and way more powerful than you’ll ever be. If he’s after our world, then you might as well surrender; fighting will only hurt more. Maybe if you’re lucky, you can convince him to have MERCY on Papyrus.</em> </span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1"> <em>He’s not soulless, so there’s that. Some theorized that he might not even like his job/mission, and that this glitchy boy is probably having a very bad time of things as we speak. On the other hand, some have said that Error is basically a sociopath on a mission to destroy everything besides the original Undertale- though some believe he might destroy that too in the end.</em> </span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1"> <em>Error hears Voices. He’s not crazy (atleast, not in a schizophrenic way), they’re actually real people who talk to him; like in the way we were real people once.</em> </span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Sans frowned.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1"> <em>Error uses strings in battle. This is his usual go-to attack when he’s causing mass pandimonium </em>(“Ah crap, I spelled that wrong.”)<em> and the weapon he is most proficient with. It seems he can summon normal bone attacks, as well as Gaster Blasters; but that might just be part of individual head-cannons, so don’t expect it. Actually yes, expect it, but also be prepared for other things.</em> </span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1"> <em>Personality wise, he’s been described as volatile, sporadic, rude, borderline insane, as well as depressed, quiet, kind in his own way, and in desperate need of therapy. Actually, that last one and the fear of touch might be the only consistent factor amongst the fandom.</em> </span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1"> <em>If you encounter him, and he’s not immediately destroying things, maybe try being kind first. If he wants to be left alone, let him have that. Peace seems hard for him to come by these days.</em> </span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1"> <em>Kindness is not lost on him, it just doesn’t seem to have an immediate response. He’ll remember if you treat him like shit, though.</em> </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">The rest of the page was blank, past Sans having run out of things to say. The next page was the drawing, of course, with little details at the sides like “Blue tear marks,” and “Bad eye sight? Different eye lights,” written around it.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Well, that didn’t help.” Sans sighed, absently looking at a terrible drawing of a hand shaded into three different colors. Only now, having seen the real deal, did the skeleton know those colors were supposed to be yellow, red, and black.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Sans gently dragged a finger down the side of the drawn skeleton’s face, remembering through the fuzz of his poor memory how light and brittle the skeleton had actually been in his arms. Sans had feared at the time (as he quickly stumbled his way through the snow back home) that the other would simply dust in his arms if he so much as squeezed too hard. </span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Luckily that didn’t happen, but by the time Sans got this “Error” back home, he was an anxious mess and was constantly glancing down at the passed out skeleton.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Good times, that.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Sans sighed and absently thumbed the corner of the pages. What was bothering him?</span>
</p><p class="p1"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1"> <em>Sans carefully pulled the skeleton’s body closer to his chest and, as he shifted the other into an awkward princess carry, he couldn’t help but notice the finely healed chips and scratches all over the other’s skull and neck vertebrae (what little he could see under the red turtleneck, anyway).</em> </span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1"> <em>The glitch sputtered, face warming with a blush, <b>“I d-d-didn’t mean to! I w-w-was just-“</b></em> </span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1"> <em>“-scared.” Sans cut in gently. The other didn’t disagree, but Sans didn’t think he wanted to agree either.</em> </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">On anyone else, Sans the skeleton might have said that monster is obviously abused, but this was the Destroyer of Worlds; was it even possible to abuse him? (Actually, what pronouns does that skeleton prefer? Oh no, what if Sans assumed his gender? He sounded male, but that didn’t actually mean anything down here! And now Sans can’t ask, damn it!)</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">This may be the worst thought to ever cross his mind, but Sans hoped “Error” would come back; if only to check on him. And find out what he preferred to be called. And see if he could give the other a better name- unless he liked that one, of course!</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Oh boy,” Sans sighed to himself, “I’m already invested, aren’t I?”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">———</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Cross and Killer wandered the produce section of the store leisurely, Killer pushing a cart as they passed through a little half isle of- actually, what was that?</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Cross,” the homicidal skeleton turned to his boyfriend, point with a thumb at a weirdly giant, spiky looking melon thing, “What the heck is that?”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Uh...” Cross looked at it then looked around for some sort of label, which he found hidden under the shadow of one of the weird lumps, “A...Jackfruit?”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">The two stared at it for a long moment before Killer cracked a mischievous grin.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“No.” </span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Killer pouted, “But-“</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“No, dude,” Cross crossed his arms sternly, “We have orders.”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Ugh,” Killer threw his head back and groaned, “Why are you such a mama’s boy?”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Cross snorted, “Don’t let Nightmare hear you say that.”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Killer smirked, “Sorry, daddy’s boy.”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">The Xtale skeleton cringed and giggled, “No! Dude! That’s so bad!”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Killer leaned into Cross’s side, holding back his own giggles, “But you’re smiling~”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“I am and I hate it!” Cross cried, covering his (blush) face with a hand.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Distantly a maniacal laugh could be heard, closely followed by a scream of “Horror!” and a loud crash.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Clean up on isle twelve.” An unenthusiastic voice said over the intercom.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Somewhere in the store, sitting on a metal support beam high above the candy isle, Nightmare sighed deeply.</span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>NM: *grumbling*<br/>Fresh: you wanted them broski<br/>NM: don’t remind me<br/>NM:<br/>Fresh:<br/>NM: ACK! WHEN DID YOU GET HERE?!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0014"><h2>14. Who you are, Pg. 1</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Hey, another short one! But I think you’ll like it. Hopefully.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>[REDACTED], that is your name.</p><p>——-<br/>An entire two months passed since the mysterious appearance of “Error,” and Sans was just starting to forget the entire encounter at this point.</p><p>This wasn’t anything unusual, as the elder skeleton’s memory often deleted things that he unconsciously classified as unimportant or insignificant- which was a great deal, actually. Who needed to remember when they were born if they never planned on celebrating it? </p><p>——-<br/>You were born on [REDACTED] in [REDACTED] to a lovely single mother named [REDACTED], who loved you more than the moon and stars we may never get to see anymore. I never understood why, but now that we have Papyrus its so easy to see that when she said “I would jump in front of a bus for you,” she meant it.</p><p>I miss her so much.</p><p>———<br/>Along with the memory of the strange dark skeleton, Sans’ towering anxiety seemed to have collapsed in on itself seemingly overnight. This made sense, as whatever had set him off had apparently either lost its edge or been buried in the back of his skull like the rest of his triggering memories.</p><p>———<br/>You have a father and brother too, besides Papyrus obviously. I won’t say much about them here other than the fact that, those strange moments where you flinch away from others and your “ears” ring when people get too loud? That’s all them. I’ve already forgetter so much about them, but I can still remember that.</p><p>———<br/>His nightmares had become more frequent though. Nothing that kept him from sleeping at night but enough that, more often than not, Sans would wake briefly in his bed.</p><p>Sans was more than used to bad dreams, however, and would usually just roll over and cuddle his brother in bed. Papyrus had been sleeping with him a lot lately, which was weird to his elder because Sans knew he wasn’t crying out at night; but hey, who was he to deny free cuddles?</p><p>———<br/>You have (had?) a great deal of issues, but most of them are linked to anxiety. It seems no matter what we ourselves forget, our soul still remembers and uses against us. </p><p>For instance, the nightmares. I’ve had one almost every night since I got here- and I can only hope it still continues long after this is written. They’re all based on some sort of memory; even the vaguest, most abstract flashes. </p><p>It’s probably the closest we will ever get to our mother again.</p><p>———<br/>School for his little brother had been going surprisingly well. About a week after the “Error incident,” a kid named Berry visited from New Home. Apparently the little bunny child had been getting bullied in her own class in the Capital, and her exhausted mother felt it was better if little Berry spent some time with her favorite cousin BB for a little while.</p><p>It had been a normal Saturday trip for nice cream that had sparked a new and somewhat terrifying friendship fire in Snowdin. Berry had been hiding behind BB’s legs, and Papyrus had been telling Sans about the newest art project his class had been working on. (Apparently Ms. Faun had adjusted some things around and pulled some favors, and now the class’s art was focusing more on clay crafts and other things like it than coloring. Sans had written a reminder to himself on a sticky note to make/bring some sort of thank-you gift the next Parent-Teacher conference.)</p><p>Sans got to the front of the line and at the sound of Papyrus’ voice, Berry had looked up. The movement caught his little brother’s attention, and suddenly the two locked stares.</p><p>———<br/>We had friends; two of them specifically. [REDACTED] lived for adventure and drifted like a kite, while [REDACTED] was our anchor or the rock in the river; we ourselves were the rope. </p><p>Sometimes though, I have to wonder if we were a choke collar instead. I’ll get into this more in the next section.</p><p>———<br/>Sans couldn’t tell you what happened next, only that one minute he’d been talking to BB and the next the two kids were having a great time chatting loudly to each other around his and the bunny monster’s feet.</p><p>Sans had watched quietly with wide sockets.</p><p>———<br/>[There are two separate scribbles through what could only be assumed were “You” and “We” before it settled on] I enjoyed many hobbies when depression allowed it; Knitting, writing, reading most especially, but gardening took the cake when I could afford it. Watching things grow, knowing that you helped make that happen and that it could have fail without your assistance, really helped get me out of bed some days. Unfortunately, it seems the only plants down here are all semi aquatic in some form and I- we?- have very little experience with that. </p><p>Very little.</p><p>———-<br/>“Well, would you look at that.” The blue bunny whispered to him. BB’s smile was the brightest he’d ever seen.</p><p>Sans felt his own smile wasn’t far off on the brightness scale. His little brother was willingly socializing with someone his age! Sans had never seen that happen before!</p><p>———-<br/>To end this section off, I figured I’d go through some inconsequential information that you may already be aware of.</p><p>[the rest of the section is filled with bullet points separated on a T-chart labeled simply as “Likes vs. Dislikes.”</p><p>Sans felt it might be a good time to make a new chart.]</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Did you guys spot Nightmare?</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0015"><h2>15. Chapter 15</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Let the friendshiping Begin!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“Remember Berry, you can leave any time you want, but-“</p><p>“-I have to tell you first.” Berry muttered into her stuffed bear’s head shyly. BB grinned down at her proudly, hand twisting the doorknob behind him.</p><p>“Very good! Off we go then!” He announced cheerily, pushing the front door open behind him and stepping down the front steps. The bunny monster turned with a flourish to his little cousin and offered out a hand as his feet hit the ground, knowing the steps were a bit tall for the tiny bunny monster.</p><p>Berry was the runt of his aunt’s litter, and sometimes needed just a bit more help than her bigger brothers and sisters; unfortunately, in a house of five children (all at the age of seven) it was hard for their mother to keep up with every single one of them; but that never really stopped Berry from trying to do it on her own. </p><p>BB watched with some amusement as the little lilac furred child ignored his offer and took careful little hops of her own down the steep steps.</p><p>“Well looky there,” BB said, “You did it all on your own! Didn’t even let go of Sir Bearnelly either!”</p><p>Berry giggled into her stuffed friend’s head, squeezing the life out of it, had it had a life to speak of. This was probably a good thing, otherwise that bear would no doubt have a great many things to say about how he’d been treated so far- that poor thing had definitely seen better days.</p><p>BB quickly left to grab his cart from it’s hiding spot and then returned to the front steps, pushing it carefully in front of himself through the snow.</p><p>“Ready to go, Berry?” </p><p>Berry nodded concisely, “Mm!”</p><p>The two traveled through town quietly; it was still early in the morning, and BB knew more than one monster who wouldn’t appreciate an early wake up call on weekends. The bunny monster thought fondly of his friend and favorite customer, Sans, who he often saw walking his other favorite customer, Papyrus, to school. </p><p>BB knew Sans was, without intervention, the kind of monster to sleep the day away. The poor skeleton could never seem to sleep as much as he’d like; and on the week days BB worked, he’d seen Sans practically zombie walk his way to the Librarby (something he never would have known about had the bunny monster not started setting up shop next to the Inn).</p><p>BB laughed to himself quietly, remembering one unfortunate time that Sans tripped and told his brother to go on without him, acting as if he were dying more than simply too tired to lift himself up from the snowy ground at that moment. Papyrus has not been impressed, after it occurred to him that Sans was messing with him.</p><p>The blue furred monster slowed to a stop, finally standing next to Snowed Inn. </p><p>“Watch out for a second, Berry.” He said quietly to his little cousin as he pulled out the large collapsed shade umbrella. Berry wisely backed up far behind the elder as BB turned just a bit to the side and popped the bright fabric outward. It was yellow and red, like the shirt he always wore; and if anyone ever saw the cart without him, they’re know it was his just from looking at it.</p><p>Fortunately, in Snowdin, this was just a needless precaution, but in New Home it was almost mandatory. He didn’t have to, of course; but if one wasn’t careful in the Capital, things tended to walk off.</p><p>With a grunt and a click, the umbrella was up.</p><p>“Now we wait.” BB said.<br/>
——</p><p>Berry, after about twenty minutes or so, had taken to hiding behind the cart just out of sight with Sir Bearnelly to avoid the slowly growing line of friendly costumers. BB had seemed sad about this, but hadn’t done anything past patting between the lilac bunny’s ears and a soft reminder that she could go if it got too much for her.</p><p>Sometimes Berry felt like her cousin was the only one who understood; he was a silly adult, and always wore a smile, but BB always knew what to do when the world got too scary. Daddy had known too, but...</p><p>“Do you think Daddy would have liked Nice Cream?” She whispered to her bear friend.</p><p>Sir Bearnelly slumped over thoughtfully across from her.</p><p>“Hmm, it’s hard to say. Daddy liked all sorts of things, remember?”</p><p>Berry gasped quietly, “Of course I remember! Daddy liked everything!” She paused, “Except for Mr. Harrington.”</p><p>Bearnelly shook with a giggle, “Poor Mr. Harrington. He just wanted to know where the bathroom was-“</p><p>“-and then Ms. Faun said my clay figure was very nice and that she couldn’t wait to see what it would look like when it was finished!” A loud voice cut in.</p><p>Pouting, Berry crawled to the edge of the cart and peeked out to see who’d interrupted her bear.</p><p>“Hello, friends!” BB greeted above her, “Here for the usual?”</p><p>“Pfft, we have a usual?” Responded one of the two skeletons infront of her and her cousin.</p><p>Berry gaped; that skeleton was almost as tall as BB!</p><p>There was a shuffle closer to the ground, and when Berry looked, she jumped and hid a bit more behind the cart; a pair of dark sockets watching her do so curiously.</p><p>“Yup! You know, the usual ex-change?”</p><p>“Wha-oh! Ha, Good one! I see I have a friend with good taste.”</p><p>Berry’s face involuntarily twisted with her own distaste, but had to laugh at the face of utter doom the smaller skeleton was making in her direction. It practically screamed, “Do you see what I have to put up with?”</p><p>Berry sent back a sympathetic smile, her way of saying “I know what you mean.”</p><p>The skeleton blinked back at her, surprised.</p><p>“I guess that makes me a real cool guy?” BB smiled mischievously.</p><p>The tall skeleton shot finger guns back at him, “Ey! Icy what you did there, dude.”</p><p>The two giggled and the small skeleton groaned loudly. Likewise, Berry rolled her eyes and came out from hiding.</p><p>“You two are the worst!” The small skeleton complained, crossing their arms.</p><p>“Aww, but Paps, I thought you liked our puns?” Sans grinned down at him, “Last year you were making them left and right; a real...Punpyrus!”</p><p>Papyrus Nyeh’d loudly in outrage, turning to pound his fists angrily on his dad’s chest. Berry grimaced as the two adults just giggled like she’d seen two of her siblings do when a prank went especially well.</p><p>“Your dad makes some bad jokes.” She whispered loudly to the other kid. Surprised, the little skeleton turned to her.</p><p>“He isn’t my dad,” Papyrus clarified as ‘dad’ visibly twitched behind him, “Sans is my brother; and yes, he does! It looks like he finally infected BB with his puns too though. Sorry.”</p><p>Berry shook her head, taking a few steps to stand in front of him, between the “adults.”</p><p>“My cousin was already like this, just maybe without the jokes-” She interrupted herself, blinking down at the bear still clutched tightly in her arms, “Oh. I guess he did infect him then.”</p><p>Sans smirked proudly at the giggling BB, enjoying the sound of his brother’s frustrated groaning.</p><p>“My job is done.” He stated proudly, “As my reward, I demand we get nice cream.”</p><p>“Cherry!” Papyrus declared loudly, snapping his head around to the taller bunny monster, “We haven’t tried cherry yet, right?”</p><p>Before BB could say anything, Berry stuck out her tongue, “Gross.”</p><p>Papyrus blinked and tilted his head, “It is?”</p><p>Berry nodded emphatically, “All cherry is gross!”</p><p>Papyrus turned to his brother, “Is it?”</p><p>Sans shrugged, “I love the stuff, but you might feel differently about it.”</p><p>Papyrus hummed thoughtfully before finally turning to BB, giving him a questioning stare.</p><p>“As far as best sellers go, it’s fairly popular,” the bunny monster said neutrally, “but there’s still two other flavors I can think of off the top of my head that you haven’t tried yet if you’d rather try something else.”</p><p>(Sans sent BB a half hidden thumbs up for his diplomacy.)</p><p>Papyrus frowned, striking a dynamic thinking pose. Sans snorted softly.</p><p>“Have you tried apple yet?” Berry asked shyly, squeezing Sir Bearnelly, “That one is my favorite.”</p><p>Papyrus clapped his hands together, “I got it!” He turned to Sans, “Can we got one of both? That way we can see which one we like better!”</p><p>Sans raised an amused brow, “Don’t you mean for you?” but he still dug into his pocket and nodded at BB.</p><p>BB opened the sliding glass door to the side and pulled out the chosen treats. The usual exchange was made and Papyrus gratefully took the offered pops; then gave them a sort of helpless look when he realized he couldn’t unwrap them without a free hand.</p><p>Sans smirked, “Need help?”</p><p>“Um...yes, please.” The little skeleton said, offering out the cherry pop first. Sans glanced behind himself absently as he took it and startled a bit to see there was still a line behind them.</p><p>“Oh, I am so sorry.” He said quietly to the nearest customer. They just smiled and shook their head, moving forward as he shuffled to the side, pulling Papyrus along with him. Berry followed, unwilling to stay with a stranger nearby and curious enough to stick close.</p><p>BB blushed in embarrassment and quickly jumped back into business mode, “Sorry about that! How can I help you today?”</p><p>While that went on, Papyrus popped open the apple pop and took a generous lick. Berry and Sans watched him curiously, waiting for some sort of reaction.</p><p>“Mm!” Papyrus took a few more licks. Sans huffed in amusement and opened up the cherry flavored one, holding it out for the smaller skeleton.</p><p>“Don’t forget this one, bro.” He said.</p><p>Papyrus took it happily and gave it an equally generous lick, except this time his face scrunched up. </p><p>Sans laughed, “Don’t like it after all?”</p><p>Papyrus shook his head and handed it back, “Sorry, brother.”</p><p>Sans shook his head and took it, “hey, you tried it; that’s all I ask.”</p><p>Berry, however, looked ecstatic. His little brother must have passed some sort of test because suddenly the bunny child was practically hopping in place and talking a mile a minute, much to Papyrus’ startled confusion.</p><p>Sans watched on, eating the cherry treat as he did. Eventually there was a dip in customers and BB took a moment to watch as well.</p><p>“Well, would you look at that.” The blue bunny murmured to Sans as he walked over, beaming at the pair.</p><p>Sans mirrored the look, mentally cheering. His little brother was willingly socializing with someone his age! Sans had never seen that happen before. </p><p>——</p><p>Many, many nights later, Sans woke up in the middle of the night from a ridiculous nightmare. Something about cockroaches?</p><p>Sans grumbled and turned over, pulling his brother closer and resting his face on the top of Papyrus’ skull as he started dozing off.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Wait, wasn’t Papyrus sleeping over at BB’s?</p><p>Sans sockets snapped open.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Right, so I just wanted to say I’m sorry about the recent decline in chapters and the shortness of the last one. I’m one of those unlucky people who has a medical problem that medication doesn’t really help, and it really effects my productivity levels. It’s a Literal curse, unfortunately.<br/>Also unfortunately, this means my uploading is going to be even more spastic than usual until it clears up again.<br/>And now I’m going to crash. Sleep be calling my name, my dudes, and I feel like it is now well deserved.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0016"><h2>16. Chapter 16</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>I’m back biatches!!!!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Error dodged another bone attack, throwing himself to the side roughly as he panted, hearing the dull THWACK as the sharp end of the attack nailed the ground where he’d been standing. Unfortunately, at the same time there was an unnerving CRACK, and pain flared up in his left side as he landed wrong on the snow covered dirt.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1"><b>“Gh-!”</b> Cutting himself off, Error forced down the instinctive urge to curl into a ball, instead pushing himself miserably up and dodging yet another flying bone.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">This all happened in the matter of seconds, and the fight had been going for ten minutes now. Luckily his opponents were getting just as tired as Error was.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Why won’t you-just-stay still?!” A sweaty Underfell Sans gasped out, throwing his arm and magic up and out recklessly to summon a wave of bones that speared up from the ground.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1"><b>“Why, s-s-so you can get your sadistic r-r-rocks off when you hit me?”</b> Error mocked as he moved, <b>“Ha! As if-f-f!”</b></span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">The glitch quickly dropped into a painful barrel roll off to the side, mentally growling in frustration as he just barely dodged being clubbed in the head, again. Swapfell Sans glared at him gleefully.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“You’ll find the only sadistic one here,” the Sans leveled the bone attack in front of his chest and, mirroring his fell counterpart with far more grace, threw up a hand into the air, “IS ME!”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Error’s good socket widened as a huge Gaster Blaster formed above the small sans’ body, overshadowing the skeleton entirely. The floating skull quickly began to load up an attack, so naturally Error tried to cut it off.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Strings, dull neon blue from lack of magic, sprang to life around him and flew true to the blaster; it coiled around the dog-dragon skull tightly, and with the clench of a fist was sliced into bits (much to Error’s relief). The Swapfell Sans below it had to dodge out from under it or risk being rained on by shards of marrow covered bone.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">(Black watched the bits of blaster fall first with horror, and then the rage of a dying sun- that is to say, all consuming.)</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Underfell and someone Error thought was G!Sans (look, sometimes you’ve just got to assume when your only working socket is near-sighted) started raining bone attacks down on him like it was the last Gryftmas and he was the annoying dog on holiday.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“HOW DARE YOU?!”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Error dodged, again, as blue and white bones alike came flying at him from behind; he snarled as some cut into his clothes and scratched his bones. All this dodging was starting to grind the glitches bones in more ways in one.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Black!” G shouted, “Remember the plan!”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Fuck your plan! You said this would be easy, but now I’m down my best blaster!”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Red huffed from beside G, “For once, the brat ‘n I agree.”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Who are you calling a brat, you lazy lard of a skeleton!” Black screeched, throwing a blunt bone attack at Red, who dodged (“What the hell Black, I was agreein with you!”); instead it bonked against G’s chest.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">G, apparently, took exception to this.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Standing on the outskirts of the clearing, watching the three fools turn on each other, Outertale Sans and Black’s brother, Mutt, groaned; Outer even going so far as to facepalm.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Error took a moment to rest and lament his terrible luck. First he was forced out of the anti-void, now he’s forced to fight a bunch of infighting morons. Why did Fate hate him so much today?</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">While the three heavy hitters squabbled Error took a risk and threw out blue strings with his free hand- as the other had taken to clutching at his injured side (Those ribs were definitely broken)- and hoped any one of the five landed on their target. It was hard to aim, but luckily his opponents weren’t paying any attention and he managed to snag all three plus one more who had been trying to break it up. By the sound of it, it might have been Outer.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Why Outer was even be here, fighting, was completely besides the glitch; but either way, he couldn’t afford to hesitate. Error threw the skeletons as far into the town behind them as he could and the pansies screamed the entire way.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Four down, one more to go.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1"><b>“Ack!”</b> Error cried out as blood seeped through his teeth. He reached down and pulled the sharpened bone out of his sternum, throwing it to the side angrily as he glared at the Swapfell Papyrus.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Mutt matched his gaze coolly, hands in his jacket pockets.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Nice throw.”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Error sneered, <b>“T-T-Thanks, I’ve had a lot of practice.”</b></span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Right...” Mutt scratched the side of his skull, “You can leave if you want. Why my brother thought this was a good idea is beyond me.”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1"><b>“You expect me to believe tha-a-at after you threw a bone at me??”</b> Error yelled, genuinely offended, <b>“What, do you think I’m as s-s-stupid as you?!”</b></span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Mutt shrugged and pulled out a dog treat, “You threw Milord. ‘Twas simple revenge.”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“LIKE THIS!”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1"><b>“Shit!”</b> Error threw himself forward as the district BWOOSH-BOOM rang loudly in his skull, hoping it was the right way. The glitch hadn’t even heard Swapfell Sans return!</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">(Was that Lust watching behind a tree? What is he doing??)</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Heat seared through the dark skeleton’s arm and Error let out a glitchy scream. This time he couldn’t resist curling into a ball on the ground as he clutched his free arm close to his chest; it smoked and gave off a horrid smell, something like burning eggshells.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Damn it, damn it, DAMN IT!</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Do it now!” He heard G yell, having apparently returned as well. Error felt horror fill his glitchy soul as he registered the sound of multiple Gaster Blasters charging in the air around him.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">He was surrounded; this was going to hurt so bad!</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Nothing happened.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Error opened his good eye socket, glancing around the darkness around him.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1"><b>“What t-t-the hell?”</b> He muttered, <b>“A-A-Am I...Dead?”</b></span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">The darkness provided no answer, and Error felt himself grin.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1"><b>“Fucking f-f-finally!”</b> He cheered, only to be interrupted by a bloody cough. Damn, maybe he wasn’t dead after all.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">The glitch tried to stand up, but he couldn’t feel anything under his hand and with a jolt Error realized he wasn’t even kneeling on anything to begin with.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1"><b>“I’m flo-o-oating?”</b> He asked, twisting carefully in midair (mindful of his ribs).</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Something like recognition nagged at the back of his skull; hadn’t he felt this once before, so many centuries ago?</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Not for long,” A soft voice murmured in his skull, “Sorry, but you might want to brace yourself for impact.”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Error’s good socket widened with alarm before light suddenly flooded through the darkness and a sharp pain smacked the back of his skull.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">——-</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“So, what do you think he’s up to now?” Ink muttered, huddled up next to his friend, Blue, against the cold stone wall at his back.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Blue shrugged unseen against the other’s shoulder, “Maybe if we’re lucky, he’s planning to let us out.”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">The two glanced at each other and (meeting each other’s eye lights in the darkness) laughed under their breath, but it was halfhearted at best.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Their captor and jailer, a skeleton they could never seem to get a good look at because of the sheer darkness of their cell, was late for the first time in two months; atleast, Blue thinks it’s been two months. He’s been trying to keep count of the days, and their jailer has been surprisingly nice about telling them how much time has passed, but could one really trust the word of someone who kidnapped them?</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Blue sighed, “How are you on paints?”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Uh...about half way, I think,” Blue could hear the other shuffling a bit and then saw the glint of glass in the darkness, “Yup, halfway. If I’m lucky, I can make it last a few more months before-“</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Both flinched back as light flooded the Star Sans’ cell with a bang, Ink crying out in surprise beside him as they both shielded themselves from the brightness with their bound hands.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Whas goin’ on?” Dream slurred as he jolted awake, “Who turned on’a lighs?”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Neither skeleton answered, watching through their fingers with baited breath as a dark shadow came at their cell hurriedly before falling heavily on their knees at the foot of the metal bars.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Oh. It was him.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Please!” Blue jolted at the unfamiliar tone of their jailer, “Heal him!”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Alarmed, the swap skeleton pushed himself to adjust faster; slowly his captor and the environment around him was revealed for the first time, but Blue forced himself to look at the skeleton first.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Blue gaped in horror.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Error?” Ink gasped beside him, jumping to his feet with a metallic rattle, “What did you do to him?!”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">The Destroyer was a mess; his clothes were ripped, burned, and stained with a wet substance that Blue couldn’t write off as anything but marrow bleeding through the glitches shirt and dribbling down his chin. There was a large crack over his right socket, and a disturbing smell in the air, like eggshells over a fire.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">The skeleton holding him snarled up at the color bomb through the bars.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Your damn Light Council did this, not me!” He dropped the hostility, however, face quickly turning desperate, “So please, fix him!”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Behind them Dream finally woke himself enough to realize something was up and crawled over to see better. Blue heard the sharp intake of breath beside him.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Ink shook his skull, “I keep telling you, the Light Council would never-!” He cut himself off as Blue placed a had on his shoulder.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“I believe him, Ink.” Blue whispered, shaking his skull.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">(Dream pushed himself up, wobbled, then stalked over to the bars, still groggy from sleep. The chains on his wrists rattled, but otherwise did little to hinder him.)</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">The Creator frowned and turned his doubtful gaze (a faded purple square and orange circle) back onto the unconscious party.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“But why?” Ink stressed, “They’ve never done this sort of thing before!”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Just look at him,” Blue turned to the skeletons outside the cell, “Both of them. Dream already said he wasn’t lying before-“</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“That doesn’t mean he isn’t, it just means-!”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“But why go to all this trouble for a lie?” Blue watched Ink flounder, “Error would never put up with something like this, not even if it benefited him somehow.” He pointedly looked at the unconscious glitch, “There’s too much touching involved for him to do this voluntarily.”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Meanwhile Dream flopped back onto the ground roughly at the foot of the cell bars, and Blue almost thought he saw their captor wince at the rough scrape of bone on concrete.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Bring him closer, please.” Dream requested ruggedly, blinking several times in a row as sleep tried to call him back. The lack of positive resources had not been kind to him.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Their jailer stared at the guardian, something like fear in his eye lights; but reluctantly he placed Error onto the cold stone of the dungeon floor (which Blue was happy to note was fairly clean, though covered in a thin layer of dust), watching Dream like a hawk.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Dream barely acknowledged him, instead putting his hands through the bars and letting them hover just above the Destroyer’s chest as he closed his sockets in concentration. A quiet moment passed, and Blue saw their captor shift restlessly as he watched Dream, before the guardian’s hands finally lit up with green magic. It was faint, and flickered every few seconds, but it was there nonetheless.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">(Blue would help, but healing wasn’t his strong suit and Error needed professional help; not a novice.)</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Thank you.” Their captor sighed, relieved.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">That, if nothing else, finally nailed it home for Blue. He may have said he believed him, but he’d still had doubts; but this? This skeleton cared too much for Error to be anything less than a friend of his, and the Destroyer didn’t make or take friendships lightly.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Finally relaxing for the first time in what felt like months, Blue leaned heavily against the still unsure Ink and really took a moment to watch their jailer.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">The skeleton stared down firmly between Dream’s hands and the ruggedly breathing chest below them, white eye lights fuzzy with worry. His fingers fidgeted with the red strings wrapped tightly around his forearms with the sort of frantic energy of someone who could do nothing but wait.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Blue had never seen this skeleton before, and by the way Ink stared and Dream snuck tired glances as he healed Error, neither had his friends.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“So,” Ink broke the silence, “Who are you?”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Sans.” Their jailer responded flatly, not even looking at him.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Ink’s face twisted in frustration, “No, I meant- what are you called outside your AU?”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">The Sans grimaced and stared more firmly away, “I...don’t have a nickname, if that’s what you’re asking. Not anymore, anyway.”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Ink and Blue glanced at each other; Dream glanced up from his work.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“You can make something up,” the skeleton murmured, “If you haven’t already. I can only imagine what you’ve been calling me until now,” he smirked tiredly up at them, “Probably something like, ‘that bastard,’ right?”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Blue frowned while Dream made a noise of protest, “What? Of course not! We would never-!”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">The creator shuffled guiltily next to him, “Actually, I kind of was.”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Ink!” His friends snapped at him.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“What?! He kidnapped us!”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Dream just shook his head as Blue continued scolding their friend.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Cut the Creator some slack,” their captor muttered to him, “He has a right.”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“How about Strings?” The guardian not so subtly changed the subject.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“What about them?” The other asked, glancing up as the other two started wrestling on the floor before returning his gaze to the Destroyer.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“No, I meant-“ Dream huffed, noticing the skeleton’s grin, “Very funny.”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Strings shrugged, “Got to get my laughs somewhere.”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">———</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Sans sockets snapped open, devoid of light. Terror like he’d never known pounded through his skull, though he dared not move; there was someone in his bed with him, someone who couldn’t possibly be his brother.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">That someone grumbled in his arms and pushed back a bit, looking up at him with a grumpy look.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Teal met wide sockets, and for some stars forsaken reason Sans gave the stranger a terrified smile.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">The stranger pushed him off the bed with a screech- an honest to stars pterodactyl screech- and Sans landed on his floor with a harsh thud.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Sh-...shouldn’t he be the one screaming? Why were the tables turned here???</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Sans sat up and peaked over the top of his bed, terror pushed to the wayside a bit as he watched the stranger gasp with his hands over his sockets, weird tentacle things lashing out behind him.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Suddenly that teal light latched onto Sans face through the gaps in his boney fingers, flashing a terrifyingly sharp grin.</span>
</p><p class="p1"><span class="s2"><b>“Oh, it’s just you.”</b> </span> <span class="s1">He said. Sans swallowed and hunkered down a bit more, offering a shaky little wave.</span></p><p class="p1"><span class="s1">The stranger’s grin fell, then he looked around. It was still dark in the underground, so the room was shrouded in shadows; the stranger fit into the darkness near perfectly. Sans would never had noticed him, had he </span> <span class="s3"><em>not been sharing the bed with him!</em></span></p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1"><b>“You’re scared...of me.”</b> He just barely heard the other skeleton whisper to himself. Unfortunately Sans mouth sometimes had this real problem of running away without him.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Just a bit, yeah.” Sans squeaked.</span>
</p><p class="p1"><span class="s1">The strangers</span> <span class="s1">tentacles twitched and curled around him loosely as he sighed.</span></p><p class="p1"><span class="s2"><b>“I am Nightmare,”</b> </span> <span class="s1">he introduced,</span> <span class="s2"> <b>“Guardian of Negativity.”</b></span></p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Hi. You’re on my bed.”</span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>I spent two days on this, and none of it went to plan. This was the original list of what I wanted to write.</p><p>“Nightmare gets caught<br/>Nightmare doesn’t leave the best impression<br/>Insert ??? somehow<br/>Maybe it’s time the star sans have a turn?”</p><p>“???” Is a little excerpt I wrote, but I decided to save that for later.</p><p>NONE OF THIS CHAPTER WENT TO PLAN</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0017"><h2>17. Chapter 17</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Oh look, it’s ???</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Sans glanced over unsurely at the skeleton sitting on the sentry countertop, facing out at the snowy landscape around them.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">He...wasn’t sure what to say here. What did one say to a creature who had apparently spent more than a month laying next to him in close quarters without his knowledge or express permission? Frankly, Sans was too busy still flipping his shit over a complete stranger having broken into his house multiple times to think of a conversation starter here.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1"> <b>“You’re quiet.”</b> </span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Sans would have jumped out of his skin, had he had any; instead he shot Nightmare a tense stare.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“What, am I supposed to talk about the weather?” He snarked, “Don’t know if you’ve noticed, but it’s snowing.”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">...why in the ever loving hell did he say that? Was he trying to get killed here?!</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Nightmare shot him a terrifying smile, one that closely resembled the one from hours earlier.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1"><b>“You are surprisingly sardonic for one so scared.”</b> He said.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Yes, well, it’s this or screaming and running the other way, but that didn’t work out too well earlier.” </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">[Earlier]</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“So what you’re saying is you’ve been breaking into my home, sleeping in my bed with me, and absorbing my negativity as I slept while also giving me nightmares; for months.”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Nightmare nodded decisively, still sitting on the aforementioned bed, <b>“That is correct.”</b></span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Sans gave him a strained smile, “Right,” he feigned hearing something down stairs, “Oh, Hey! Is that my brother knocking on the front door? I better go get that.”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">He calmly stood up from the floor, turned around, and walked to his bedroom door. He could feel the other skeleton’s stare on his back as he opened said door and walked through it into the dark hallway, closing it firmly behind him.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">One second passed. Two.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Sans took off; taking a shortcut outside the house and into the night, running like the lord of hell himself was coming for his soul.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">He could hear deep laughter following behind him.</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">[Now]</span>
</p><p class="p1"><span class="s1">Nightmare </span> <span class="s2"> <em>giggled</em> </span> <span class="s1">, <b>“That is true. Few have ever successfully escaped me.”</b></span></p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Sans blinked, opened his mouth then closed it with a click, hand lifted up with his index pointed into the air.</span>
</p><p class="p1"><span class="s1">“Dude, that is the creepiest shit I have </span> <span class="s2">ever</span> <span class="s1"> heard and I’m going to have to ask you never say that again.” He finally said.</span></p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1"><b>“Is it?”</b> The goop covered skeleton smirked, <b>“You should see the Yandere AUs.”</b></span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“I’m sorry, the what.”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Nightmare ignored him, <b>“Do not worry though, now that we’ve officially met I’m sure you’ll quickly grow used to it.”</b></span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Sans mentally threw up his hands, outwardly staring at the countertop of his sentry station like maybe an answer was graffiti’d into the wood somewhere. No luck, though; the only thing he found was the wear and splintering in the wood from the cold weather. He’d probably have to warn Doggo about that later.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Nightmare’s smile faltered, eye light flickering over the other skeleton’s form. Was he pushing too hard? The emotions coming off his skeleton were a bit twisted, but unease was easy for even a non-empathetic being to pick up on should they have simply looked.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Perhaps he should clarify some things, before they stumbled into a misunderstanding.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1"><b>“I do not intend to harm you if that’s what you fear,”</b> he stated quietly, <b>“Nor anything you care for.”</b></span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Sans stared up at him with a raised brow. Nightmare could almost hear the “And why should I trust that?” the other skeleton was thinking.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Fair enough, Nightmare thought with a sigh, turning back to the snow around them.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">A moment of a tense silence passed between the two, before his Sans sighed.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“If you mean what you say,” he said with great reluctance, “Then I’m guessing you’re planning on sticking around for a little bit longer?”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1"><b>“Yes.”</b> Oh, quite a bit longer.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Then tell me this- whatever you want, whatever you’re planning-“ Sans face turned almost pleading, “-will you atleast leave my brother out of it?”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Nightmare almost laughed, <b>“For what reason would I harm your Papyrus?”</b></span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Sans frowned and leaned forward onto his crossed arms, laying his head down on them, “I don’t know.”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">The guardian waited for the other to say more but Sans just buried his face into his arms, curling into a tense ball against the countertop.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1"><b>“...I promise you-“</b> Sans jolted, jerking his head up to stare at the skeleton with tiny pinpricks of light, <b>“-that I mean no harm toyour brother; and for that matter neither do I mean any to you. Will you give me a chance to prove it?”</b></span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Sans stare was long and piercing. Had Nightmare not been long used to such a look from Horror, it might have sent tingles down his spine. Instead, as the air grew thick with an oppressive force, the guardian had to force down a gleeful shiver.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">(However, he was unaware of his tendrils curling up behind him. Luckily Sans didn’t notice, too focused on staring him dead in the sockets.)</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">His skeleton’s eye lights flashed yellow briefly, then he blinked and nodded, pressure abating.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“I’ll hold you to that.” Sans said.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1"><b>“I expect so.”</b> Nightmare nodded, <b>“Now, would you be at all against answering some questions of mine?”</b></span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Sans shrugged, “Go for it.”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1"><b>“When you first saw me, why didn’t you attack?”</b> A tendril waved out lazily around him, resting against wall of the station awkwardly. It caught his Sans’ sockets as he grimaced and mumbled something.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1"><b>“What was that?”</b> Nightmare asked, leaning in closer.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">The other skeleton grumbled, “I can’t, attack. I can barely use magic at all.”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1"> <b>“But just now-“</b> </span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“-Was a pain in the ass bluff that I will not be doing again anytime soon, so don’t ask.” Sans huffed, eye lights still on the awkwardly resting tendril.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Nightmare raised a brow, but decided to leave it alone for now.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1"><b>“Has the final human fallen down yet?”</b> He decided to ask next.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Sans shot him a look, “Interesting phrasing. No, no human has fallen from the surface world in several years. Why do you ask?”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">The guardian met his look with one of his own, <b>“You might want to prepare yourself then. This one will either be very cruel, or very kind.”</b></span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Very mysterious of you; do you always leave people with vague ambiguous warnings of potential disasters, or is that just me?” Sans snarked.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Nightmare snorted, <b>“You are the first I have ever had the opportunity or want to warn. By the time I get to them, most have fallen into despair and desperation.”</b></span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Oh boy, what a future I have.” The sentry mumbled dryly, “What did you do with the other poor monsters?”</span>
</p><p class="p1"><span class="s3"> <b>“I didn’t have to do anything,”</b> </span> <span class="s1"> Nightmare smirked, </span> <span class="s3"> <b>“I just watched and waited; though some I found to be interesting and took along with me when I left.”</b> </span></p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Sans shot him a nervous look, “And now your here.”</span>
</p><p class="p1"><span class="s3"> <b>“That I am.”</b> </span> <span class="s1"> He purred.</span></p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Sans grimaced.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“You really think it’ll get that bad?” He asked, looking down at his arms.</span>
</p><p class="p1"><span class="s1">I’m counting on it. Nightmare thought, but outwardly he grinned, </span> <b> <span class="s3">“It’s a strong possibility, but that entirely depends on you. The human may be more merciful here, or maybe...</span> <span class="s4"> <em>they’ll kill every single one of you, starting with your brother.”</em> </span> </b></p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Unbeknownst to him, Sans knew that wasn’t true; at the very least, Papyrus would be the second Boss Monster killed according to his journal.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s2">It was in the script.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Why didn’t you help them? Your...captives?” Sans wondered, hiding his clenched hands in his armpits.</span>
</p><p class="p1"><span class="s3"> <b>“Subordinates,”</b> </span> <span class="s1"> Nightmare leaned leisurely against the edge of the wooden wall behind him,</span> <span class="s3"> <b>“And right now I am nothing more than a parasite on your soul, soaking up every little negative feeling you have until I’ve had my fill; this AU is entirely too positive for me to do anything more, and so I have very little power here beyond that.”</b> </span></p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Creepy.”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1"><b>“It is that or withering away into a husk of myself as I slowly decay from the inside.”</b> Nightmare elaborated dryly, <b>“Frankly, I rather not.”</b></span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Sans...smiled.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Oh, is that all?” He asked- no, teased? “Sounds like a real pain.”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">The guardian sent the other a suspicious look, <b>“Indeed.”</b></span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Something like that must really-“ Sans smothered a giggle, “-octopi a lot of your time.”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Nightmare deadpanned, “<b>Not even twenty minutes in and I already regret my promise.”</b></span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Sans giggled behind his hands, tears of mirth in his sockets- and then a huge yawn interrupted a particularly obnoxiously snort.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“S-sorry,” he wiped his sockets with collar of his shirt, “I usually take a nap about now.”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">The guardian thought this was adorable.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1"><b>“You can go ahead if you want,”</b> Nightmare offered, <b>“I’ll keep an eye out for you.”</b></span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“You will?” Sans wondered, though he was already settling in for a good bit of rest; no Sans could ever truly resist a nap for long. Nightmare’s nod was all he needed to relax and lay his skull on his arms.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Alright, wake me when Doggo- uh, a dog monster with swords- comes by, if I’m not awake already.”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">He conked out before Nightmare could respond.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">————</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Error shoved a roughly wrapped gift at him.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Uh...” Sans stared down at it, wondering why is was so squishy, “Is it a shirt?”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1"><b>“Wha- N-N-No!”</b> Error protested, <b>“Stop trying to guess everything and just open it!”</b></span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Sans raised both hands in in surrender, still holding the package, “Okay, okay. Just give me a second.”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Sans turned the package over and over, trying to find an easy way to open it without ripping the wrapper to shreds. It should have been easy since the paper was a plain jane white, but it was like Error hadn’t used a single strip of tape and instead had done some weird origami thing to it.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Scratching the side of his skull, Sans shot his friend a helpless look.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Error rolled his eye lights, <b>“Just rip it up. That’s what it was m-m-meant for anyway.”</b></span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Sans grinned and the room filled with the sounds of enthusiastic paper ripping.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Sans scoffed, amused, “You got me something purple? Error, you do remember that colors kinda change in my hands, right?”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Error didn’t say anything, not that Sans was paying any attention; he was too busy carefully pulling free the ball of...knitted yarn and beads?</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Sans’ smile slowly fell the more his gift was revealed, slowly becoming something more awed.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Whatever it was, knowing Error it was hand knitted. Though how Error had done it, who the hell knows. It was purple, it had little metal beads throughout the stitching (though a few were shaped like stars), and strangely enough way longer than any reasonable scarf had any right to be.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">A smile quirked on Sans’ face, “Ju- Wha- Error!” He laughed incredulously, “Just what would I need a- what, six foot?- scarf for?”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1"><b>“Count-t-t the stars.”</b> Error said, face expectant.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Sans searched his face for any sort of reason or giveaway, but when he found none the skeleton did as told.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“One, two, three, four,” Sans muttered to himself, tapping them out, “Five, six, seven, eight...”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">He paused, brows furrowing when he found no more stars.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Eight?” He asked Error.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Error finally smiled, but it was smug, <b>“It’s ei-ei-eight feet, by the way.”</b></span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">The skeleton watched his friend thoughtfully, smiling absently as he thought it over.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Eight stars, eight feet, He thought. Eight stars, eight feet...</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Sans shook his head and stared down at the organized tangles; these damn monsters and their complicated puzzles. Watch it be horribly obvious too.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Eight stars, eight feet. Sans liked stars, but if it was about the stars then Error wouldn’t have told him specifically how long the scarf was.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">So then it was about the length? But that didn’t seem right either, unless his friend was teasing him about his height or something? Eight stars, eight feet...</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Eight and eight. Double eights. Two infinity symbols on their rounded parts.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Sans head snapped up, something clicking into place.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“No.” He said, “No way is it that simple.”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Error’s smug smile grew wider, <b>“S-s-say it, and maybe it’ll be r-r-right.”</b></span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Dude, I hate guessing games with you!” Sans groaned.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Error’s smile became just a bit kinder.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1"><b>“Come on 88,”</b> The Destroyer urged, <b>“You know t-t-the answer.”</b></span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">The skeleton watched him for a moment, unsure, before looking down at the very neatly knitted gift.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">He ran his hands over it, careful not to let the top of his finger bones catch on it. Sans was buying time, and he knew it; but he was also taking a moment to examine and enjoy his gift.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">It wasn’t anything super complicated pattern wise, just a plain old, uh, purl stitch Sans thinks it’s called? All the way through. It was soft, thick, and very tightly knit; like a stretchy turtle neck sweater Sans used to love.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Sans had taken up knitting back then too, so he knew exactly how much time and effort this must have taken on Error’s part- which is to say, fucking forever.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Sans shoulders slumped, “Please don’t laugh at me if I’m wrong?”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1"> <b>“Now-ow-ow why would I make a promise like th-th-that?”</b> </span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">The yellow skeleton groaned and leaned back on the couch, “I swear, sometimes I have no idea why we’re friends.”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Error smirked at him with anticipation, leaning forward.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Finding literally no other way out of his potential embarrassment, Sans finally just threw up his hands and gave up.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“88!” He groaned loudly into the air, not looking at his friend, “The answer is 88!”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">His friend started a very slow round of applause, which actually sounded more akin to wood clanking together thanks to the lack of skin.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1"> <b>“Con-con-congratulations! You figured it out.”</b> </span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“...wait, what?” Sans sat up.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1"> <b>“Y-Y-Yup. For once you got the right-t-t answer.”</b> </span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">The skeleton deadpanned, “You really spent all this time and effort on some sort of convoluted pun of my nickname? You would have had a better time getting me an easier joke gift.”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1"><b>“It’s not a-a-a joke gift.”</b> Error argued.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Sans gave him a doubtful look, which he met stubbornly with a sincere stare.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1"><b>“It-it-it’s- look, it’s hard to ex-ex-explain, but that-“</b> Error points are the scarf, <b>“-is what I associate w-w-with you.”</b></span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Sans looked at the scarf doubtfully, “I think you got your colors mixed up Error; and I think you’re going to have to try and explain that better.”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Error huffed in frustration and plopped down on the couch beside Sans, carefully snatching part of the scarf up.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1"><b>“Back when we first m-m-met, yellow was the color that came to mind first- but after the first time I saw your room, yellow didn’t seem l-l-like the right color anymore.”</b> Sans smiled sheepishly, thinking of all the purple things he’d acquired over the years.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Error tapped two different beads, <b>“I actually had to call in a favor for these. Real metal beads aren’t e-e-easy to come by, and fake ones felt like an insult.”</b></span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Sans raised a bone brow, “And the ridiculous length? Is that some kind of weird poke at me that I haven’t gotten yet?”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Error laughed, <b>“No, I j-j-just thought it was fitting. Early in our friendship, you tried so hard to k-k-keep me calm and happy, and you a-a-always give me the benefit of a doubt. I figured it was only fair I give your gift more effort too.”</b></span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Sans didn’t know what to say, he didn’t even think his friend had noticed back then.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">After a moment of silence Error looked over to him. He got one good look at Sans’ face and laughed at him.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1"> <b>“Oh c-c-come on, don’t get all emotional yet! You haven’t even figured out the best p-p-part!”</b> </span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Sans scoffed with a watery smile, “Error, you made me a gift; something that took time, and thought, and- where did you even find the time for this?!”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1"><b>“I have my ways.”</b> Error stated proudly, <b>“B-B-But seriously, you’ve been touching it this whole time, haven’t-t-t you noticed anything weird yet?”</b></span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Sans blinked. Now that he mentioned it-</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“-It’s not changing colors.”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1"> <b>“Bingo-o-o!”</b> </span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“But- but how?!” Sans demanded, eye sockets wide.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1"> <b>“Three words. M-M-Magic Canceling Threads.”</b> </span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">————-</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Sans shot up with a start as something tapped his shoulder.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“‘M awake!” He slurred.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">He could just barely register the fuzzy image of a dark shape leaning over him.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1"><b>“Doggo is on his way,”</b> it murmured. Sans blinked up at it blankly.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Oh, thank yah.” A pause, and then his head was back in his arms, “Ten more minutes please...”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Nightmare huffed, amused.</span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Sans: I still don’t know how I feel about you, but you made a promise and I believe you. Please don’t murder me in my sleep.<br/>NM: You octopi my thoughts<br/>Sans: what?<br/>NM: what?<br/>Sans: what did you just say?<br/>NM: I said your puns need work<br/>Sans:<br/>Sans: you know what? I’m gonna just take a nap now.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0018"><h2>18. What life was like, pg.3</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>I’m not confident in this one at all, but I couldn’t think of any other way past this point in time. Onward to more plot!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Life for us could be described in one word: Lonely. For a long time that’s all we were, especially as a child; and sometimes we often felt...forgotten.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">——</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Papyrus and Berry were a classic example of what older people would call, “Love at First Sight”; Or, if one wanted to be super nitpicky about the details, “Platonic Friendship After a Decent Amount of Time.”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">The two were complete terrors together, and today they were hiding in the back of the library in a shadowy corner, one that Papyrus had long learned everyone avoided. The two were giggling together under a table as Ms. Faun frantically searched the building for them, sometimes even walking right past their corner.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Papyrus?” He heard his teacher’s muffled call, “Honey, where are you? Please come out!”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Berry giggled into her hands. Ms. Faun didn’t know about her, so she’d taken the opportunity to sneak in and troll the teacher with her new friend; calling it payback for Papyrus’ bullying.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Unfortunately, someone else had also gone looking for Papyrus while the teacher was distracted.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Found you, Freak!”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Suddenly the little bones was being dragged out by his leg. Papyrus flailed his arms out and kicked back at his attacker with his free foot, crying out in fear; but he missed.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Let me go!” He yelled back grabbing onto the leg of the table for dear life, “Berry, help!”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">——</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">We made friends of course, and sometimes we gave our whole heart away to someone we thought cared just as much, but we stopped that pretty quickly after the third friend dropped us like a hot potato. In the end, we came out of childhood with only two friends to our name; and only one we trusted to be there when the loneliness closed in too tightly.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">——</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Berry, frozen, watched him get dragged out with wide eyes; If Papyrus had a stomach, it would have dropped.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Marlo laughed behind him, twisting his leg at an unpleasant angle as he pulled, “Who’s Berry huh? You newest imagery friend?”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Papyrus let go with a pained cry, turning to clutch his leg; Marlo laughed and dropped it, making Papyrus cringe and hold it tighter.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Well, are you going to answer? No?” Marlo sneered, “That’s right, I forgot! You think you’re better than everyone! ‘Hi, I’m the great Papyrus; and I want to be friends with all of you!’ What a joke!”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Papyrus curled up around his leg, chin wobbling, “B-but I really do want to-“</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Shut up!” Marlo thundered, “No one asked for your opinion, Freak!”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Stop it!” Berry’s little purple body crawled out from the table and jumped between the two, “Leave him alone!”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Marlo’s mouth twisted cruelly, anger burning in his dark, beady eyes, “And who are you? The Freak’s little girlfriend?” A mockery of pity suddenly glimmered in his gaze, “You’re a bunny monster, like me. Wouldn’t you rather be with your own kind? If you hang out with me, I promise I won’t hold this whole thing against you- we can even be friends!”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Papyrus tensed, watching his friend’s back with fear. Marlo offered this every time, and without fail most fell for it; Was it stupid of him to hope Berry wouldn’t?</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“No way! Papyrus is the best, and your ears are stupid looking!” Berry shouted.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Marlo’s jaw dropped, and Papyrus’s soul soared; he could almost cry he was so relieved, but that didn’t last long. Marlo, enraged, shot his arm out and grabbed the base of Berry’s ears in a fist, pulling her into the air. Berry screamed out in pain and immediately started to cry, and Papyrus shot unsteadily to his feet to defend his friend, but a cold voice sliced through the air, beating him to it.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Mr. Marlo, what do you think you are doing?” Ms. Faun demanded.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">The older bunny monster dropped Berry like a potato sack. She stumbled back into Papyrus’s shaking arms, clutching her head with a sob.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Nothing Miss!” Marlo said sweetly, “I was just trying to take Papyrus back to class.”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Papyrus begged her with his sockets not to believe the older kid again, holding his crying friend close as he pulled her back away from Marlo.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Ms. Faun walked over and stood a foot away from the bunny, glaring down at him, “That wasn’t what I saw. I dare say I saw you abusing another student just now.”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">——</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">We never made enemies; it just wasn’t in us. Unfortunately, thinking back on it, we also didn’t make allies- and sometimes that meant kids would randomly pick on us or completely forget we ever existed. Once we went to class with a new haircut, and not one person knew who we were. They honestly thought I was a new student, can you believe that?</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">——</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Alright, I got one; how did the skeleton know it was going to rain?”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Nightmare sighed, <b>“If you’re going to make jokes, might I suggest getting some better material?”</b></span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Sans watched him expectantly, undeterred by the other’s tone. Papyrus made more impressive complaints than this goop ball.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">The guardian gave in once more, groaning, <b>“I don’t know...he felt it in his bones?”</b></span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“What? No, he read the weather forecast ya weirdo.”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Sans’ disappointed stare turned into giddy pride as the dark guardian snorted into a hand.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1"><b>“That was bad, even for a Sans.”</b> He said.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“But you’re laughing~” Sans sang, soul lighting up in his chest, “I dare say you even liked it.”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Nightmare snorted, <b>“Keep daring, maybe you’ll even-“</b> his head snapped around, glaring down the path into town.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Sans frowned, “Nightmare?” He leaned forward over the counter, trying to see around the sold wall of goop, “What is it? Is someone com-“ the guardian disappeared right into thin air, “-ing?” A pause, “Damn it, not again!”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Sans settled back into his seat, grumbling.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">——</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Teachers tell us all our lives that they’re preparing us for the future, for real life as adults; and yet I went out into the world as clueless and as ignorant as my younger self had been coming into it. Was that my teacher’s fault? Perhaps not, but I would have still liked to know why the heck I had to file taxes every year and what I was doing it for.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">I would have also liked to know why I always felt so terrible, but to ask that of anyone besides a professional would have been unfair and perhaps even unkind.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Some things, I feel, are best left to ones self to answer instead of dragging others into it.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">——</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">The speedy crunching of snow caught his attention first, followed by the heavy thuds of boots racing up the path; it set him on edge, since it was too early for anyone besides him to be out here on the edge of town.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Brother!”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">The skeleton jumping to his feet and over the countertop in a flash, just as the bright colors of his brother’s clothes came into view. His little brother looked upset.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Alright, don’t panic, Sans told himself, You’ve been preparing yourself for this moment; you can do this!</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Papyrus skidded to a halt a few feet away, kicking up an impressive shower of snow around them. As close as he was now, Sans could see the little skeleton’s back heaving as he bent over with his hands on his knees trying to catch his breath.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Yo, bro,” Sans greeted, “What brings you to my side of things?”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Papyrus took a deep gulp of air and pushed himself up.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“M-Ms. Faun- wants to- see you!” He panted out. Sans’ nerves clenched with his teeth.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">That didn’t sound good at all.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">——</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Sometimes we found ourselves making choices I’d kick myself for later, like playing hooky when anxiety ate at us instead of just sucking it up like we should have. Locking ourself away could not have been good for us, but at the time I thought it was better than going to work and humiliating myself by having a panic attack in front of my coworkers again.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">——</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1"><b>“W-w-where the fuck am I?”</b> Error groaned, carefully sitting up.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Dream glanced over to their newest cellmate with a mental sigh, knowing there was no way he was getting his nap now.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Hi Error,” Ink cheerfully waved from the opposite wall, or, well, he tried; his paints were running a bit thin at the moment, so it gave off more of a lazy impression. Blue helped him make up for it by echoing the Creator with both hands flailing through the air in greeting (which made the chains rattle like a snakes tail). The glitch seem to pause and stare at the two, unaware of Dream leaning against the cell bars just a few feet from the duo and the newly dubbed Strings curled into a ball on a far wall outside the cell.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Confusion turned to horror. <b>“Oh stars it’s y-y-you two! What are you doing here?!” </b>Error blinked and looked around,<b> “What am I doing here?!”</b></span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Strings shuffled a bit and grunted as he pushed himself to his feet, catching the dark skeleton’s attention as he walked over, “Sorry, that’s my fault. I sort of kidnapped you.”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Dream huffed, amused.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“It was actually because of him that you were healed,” Ink broke in. “I was all for letting you stay beat up.”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Ink!” Blue scolded, smacking at his friends shoulder just as Error deadpanned at the Creator with a muttered “Gee, thanks.”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Blue turned to the glitch with an apologetic smile, “Sorry about him. He’s grumpy because he’s running out of paint for today.”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Error scowled, <b>“I don’t need your apologies, yah damn glitch.”</b> (Blue smiled knowingly.) <b>“A-a-and you!”</b> He pointed rather violently at the standing Strings, <b>“Just who the h-h-hell are you?!”</b></span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Dream and Blue both frowned, though the former was in response to seeing their captor’s lights dim even while he kept smiling.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Strings shrugged, “Eh, no one important. I think you call my kind ‘Outcodes’?”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Error raised a brow, <b>“Uhuh, s-s-sure; and Fate isn’t a huge bitch.”</b></span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Strings flinched slightly, almost imperceptible even to the watchful socket, which Dream had two of trained almost exclusively on the tall skeleton.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“He’s not an Outcode then?” Ink asked, tilted skull glowing with faded green and yellow question marks.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Error sneered at him, <b>“S-s-shouldn’t you know? You made practically everything in this damn multiverse.”</b></span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Not everything.”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Ink and Error blinked at each other, then turned to Strings; joining Dream and Blue in their stare at the skelenapper.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“I mean, that’s true,” Ink conceded, “But how did you know that?”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Strings shrugged, “Doesn’t matter. I actually have something more important to talk about, if you don’t mind.”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">The room tensed.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“I’m sorry, but I have to ask a favor of you all; especially you, Error.” Strings grimaced apologetically, “When you leave this place,” the Star Sans burst into whispers, “Please don’t mention anything about me to anyone else; and I ask that you-“ he pointedly stared at the Destroyer, “-go to Undertale number eighty-eight and stay until I send word.”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Error glared, <b>“Why can’t I just go to the anti void?”</b></span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Your Fate will be waiting for you.” Strings replied solemnly. Dream wondered why that phrase set off so much terror in the Destroyer, but dared not ask.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">——-</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Despite our personal feelings though, we lived a decent life by social standards. I loved what I had with everything I was, and what bad we had I took with as much dignity I possessed. Life was lonely, dark, and terrible; but it was also full of happiness, hope, and delight. If given a chance, I honestly don’t think I would change a thing.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">——</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Strings watched his ‘guests’ leave quietly, feeling strangely cold as the last bit of color dropped through his portal.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">A voice echoed near him, demanding.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“I will not,” Strings hissed quietly, seemingly to thin air as his gaze trailed somewhere just by his shoulder.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">It raised its voice threateningly.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Y o uW i l lN o t.”</span>
</p><p class="p2">It quieted, then left with a soft warning. Strings sighed to himself.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Sans: *puns*<br/>NM: normally I hate all puns<br/>NM: but I find myself tolerating them for you.<br/>NM: <br/>NM: what is this witchcraft?</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0019"><h2>19. Chapter 19</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>*nervous sweating* h-heeeey...I’m back..?</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Sans took a shaky step back, then another, and ano-</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Ah!” He tripped. He tripped and fell because of the blood under his shoes an<em>d now he was sitting in it-!</em></span>
</p><p class="p1"><span class="s1">Sans scrambled</span> <span class="s1">back</span><span class="s2">, </span><span class="s1">barely audible little gasps of “No, no, no-“ spilling from between his teeth as the blood followed him; streaking the gold tiles under him in bright lines of sticky crimson. It clung to the seat of his pants like a crude brand.</span></p><p class="p1">
  <b> <span class="s3"><em>You did this. You deserve this. Bath in the blood of the child you </em></span> <span class="s4">murdered.</span> </b>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“No, no, no,” he whined, tears the color of the room around him spilling down his cheeks, “I didn’t want to! I couldn’t stop! Please, pl-!”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“-ease!”</span>
</p><p class="p1"><span class="s1">Sans gasped, staring up at his popcorn ceiling as his soul pounded in his chest. A-...a nightmare? It was just a </span> <em> <span class="s2">nightmare</span> <span class="s1">?</span> </em></p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Giddiness flooded his chest, spilling down his arms and legs like cooling rivers all the way down to his index fingers and big toes. Holy hell, Sans couldn’t remember the last time he had a nightmare that bad! (He sat up) The skeleton could swear he felt the tacky liquid under his hands even no-</span>
</p><p class="p1"><span class="s1">Sans froze, the pudgy fingers of a child were clenched around his wrist. Blood dripped sluggishly down between the bones of his hand, pooling in the sheets below. As he stared, more of the child was revealed in the darkness of his room; blood clumped brown hair, a bruised blue cheek, </span> <span class="s2">eight different sized bones <em>protruding from the flesh of their back all the way through their front-</em></span></p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Static fizzled loudly in Sans’ skull, the cool feeling turning into numbness as unadulterated horror consumed every corner of his soul. His ribs ached, his arms shook, but he couldn’t bring himself to do more than stare- his mind totally blank.</span>
</p><p class="p1"><span class="s1">The child snapped open their blood shaded eyes and stared right through his voided sockets, and the room started to spin and fade out at the edges. Sans didn’t hardly notice, too busy falling into the same puddle of blood ov<em>er and over an</em></span> <span class="s2"> <em>d over-!</em> </span></p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1"><b>“Sans!”</b> The child was shaking him, <b>“Sans, breath!”</b></span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">W-what?</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">The skeleton blinked and the spell shattered and fell like the glass of a mirror from it’s frame. He took a deeply shuddered inhale and realized halfway through in the back of his mind that he must have been crying for a while; the taste of carbonated water laid over his tongue with the consistency of syrup. it was hard to swallow down, reminding him too much of the thickness of the liquid he’d thought was all over his hand a second ago.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Nightmare sighed and lowered his arms, falling back on his haunches. <b>“Good. You’re back.”</b></span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“B-back?” Sans repeated.</span>
</p><p class="p1"><span class="s1">The child was gone. The child was </span> <span class="s2"> <em>gone</em> </span> <span class="s1">. He was okay. </span> <span class="s2">Everything</span> <span class="s1"> was <em>okay</em>.</span></p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1"> <b>“You were staring and wouldn’t answer me.”</b> </span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Sans blinked, then blinked again and shook his skull, trying to get the fog out of his head. “I’m sorry, can you say that again?”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Nightmare frowned, his teeth starkly bright in the darkness of the room.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1"><b>“I said you were acting weird. You still are actually. Are you-“</b> he cut himself off and rephrased quickly, <b>“Do you want to talk about it?”</b></span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Stars did he, but- “I...wouldn’t know where to begin.”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Nightmare’s face didn’t even twitch, but somehow Sans could almost feel the shift of energy in the room. A tendril flicked and twitched behind him, almost unnoticeable had Sans nerves not already been keyed up as hard as they had been.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1"><b>“I could eat it, if you want.”</b> Nightmare tilts his head, <b>“That way you wouldn’t have to explain.”</b></span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Sans stared at him blankly, “And what does that mean?”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1"><b>“I eat Nightmares-“</b> Sans resisted the urge to call him a cannibal, <b>“-and when I do, I see what others dreamt.”</b></span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Something occurred to Sans, “Wait, but, why are you asking me now? Haven’t you already been doing that?”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Nightmare frowned, <b>“No, only once; and I’ve been trying to get your permission since. You caught my interest very early on.”</b></span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Interest?” Sans mouthed uncertainty, a bit unnerved; but then he really thought about Nightmare’s offer.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">This could turn personal really quickly; Dreams were full of personal stuff- it was all in his head after all- so the better question was, did Sans trust this weird, obsessively goopy stalker enough to let him in his head?</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">——-</span>
</p><p class="p1"><span class="s1">Sans took a deep breath, hands coming together in front of him like a prayer, “So what you’re telling me is that not only did that little </span> <span class="s2"> <em>bastard</em> </span> <span class="s1"> of a child-“ (“Brother!”) “-actually hurt my brother this time, but he also hurt Papyrus’ </span> <span class="s2"> <em>friend</em> </span> <span class="s1"> and you let him go </span> <span class="s2"> <em>h o m e</em> </span> <span class="s1">?”</span></p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Ms. Faun grimaced with her hands folded politely in front of her, visibly tense, “I know this situation is less than ideal-“ she flinched as Sans’ glare sharpened, “-but there honestly is not much I can do here. I’ve informed his father while Papyrus went to get you, and I’m informing you now as well, but unfortunately I don’t know who’s parents your brother’s friend belongs to and as a small school we lack a principal to execute anything higher than a week long suspension, which Mr. Marlo is under now. The most I can do here is inform all involved and take a record of it in case it happens again.”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“And what then?” Sans asked, “You just let him go on his merry way all over again?”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“No,” Ms. Faun stated firmly, “Then I inform a guardsmen and they make a report; and if it happens again after that, then they make a report and a decision is made by a higher level.”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Sans gritted his teeth, “So basically nothing unless that brat does something irreversible.”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Ms. Faun nodded, face severe, “Unfortunately.”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Berry whimpered into her friend’s shoulder and Papyrus, realizing why, tugged on his brother’s hand sharply, distracting Sans into dispersing his magic.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Sans blinked and looked down, then frowned.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Sorry, bro.” He murmured.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Papyrus shook his head, “Can I take Berry home now?”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Sans looked to his teacher. Other than a bit of shaking in her hands, she seemed unbothered by Sans’ display of temper; she even managed an apologetic smile at the little ones.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“I wish I could tell you yes, but I really do need to inform their parents in person and I can’t leave until school lets out.” She informed.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">...that’s right, school was still going on right now. Sans had almost forgotten during the debriefing. There was still atleast an hour left before “the bell” too.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">He glanced down at the two children huddling just slightly behind his legs. Berry deserved to go home and cry her little eyes out with BB hugging her, or eating a nice cream while watching Mettaton reruns like the obsessed fan she and his brother were both quickly becoming; not wait around with a bunch of strangers after probably the worst event of her life from what he heard- but did he feel comfortable enough to leave them alone at the librarby again?</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">A little sniffle made up his mind.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“You guys stay here,” Sans patted his brother’s skull, “I’ll get BB and be back before you can say raxacoricofallapatorius.”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Papyrus frowned, “A what?”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">—-</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">BB had just come home to make lunch for his little cousin when he heard the knock on the door.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Coming!” He called, setting the stove on simmer and taking his apron off. No need to get the “uniform” messy, he still had to work in an hour!</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“I wonder if that’s Mrs. Bunns- oh! Sans!” He smiled happily at his friend from the open door, “What brings you here-?“ BB frowned, “Is something wrong?”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Sorry, BB,” Sans shoves his hands in his pockets, “I’m actually here to pick you up. There was an incident at the librarby with my little bro and your cousin and-“</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Are they okay? Is Berry hurt?!” BB asked frantically.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“They’re okay now. Shaken up and spooked; but our kiddos are tough stuff, you know?” Sans reassured as the large bunny quickly shoved his shoes on against a wall, “I just need you to come with me because Faun- Er, Paps teacher- needs to speak with you and can’t leave until school’s over.”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Of course! Take me right away please!” BB more or less demanded. He was so serious, Sans had to take a moment to find the usual happy-go-lucky bunny under that stern look; It was sort of unsettling.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">—-</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Raxacoricofallapa-taurus? No, that’s not it either...” Berry let out a quiet giggle, “Nyeh! You try it then- oh.”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Sans popped back with a slightly green BB, looking slightly less upset than when he left.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“N-next time, let’s just walk, okay?” He told the elder skeleton before looking around. The bunny got one good look at his cousin and rushed right over, falling to his knees in front of the two and twisting Berry around, “Berry! Honey, are you okay? What happened? Why are you with Papyrus? Didn’t I say to wait until after class to play with him?”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">From where he stood Sans couldn’t hear her response, or if she responded at all, but whatever she did had BB frowning and hugging the poor thing just like Sans would have had he not been so pissed about why he’d been summoned.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“BB?” Ms. Faun wondered, looking to Sans, “I was not aware he had a child.”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Cousin.” Sans shrugged, “Don’t ask me how he ended up caring for her, but he’s Berry’s guardian while she’s here; so you’re gonna have to deal with him.”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">She seemed to deflate a bit with relief, but Sans knew from experience that people didn’t act the same way when their kids were hurt; BB would be no exception. Ms. Faun learned this very quickly when the blue bunny pushed himself back to his feet and turned to her with that uncharacteristically stern glint in his eyes.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Tell me what happened.”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">And so, she did.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">—-</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">About a few hours later the four trudged tiredly back to BB’s house, Berry holding onto her cousin’s and friend’s hands tightly as they walked with Sans bringing up the back behind her, thinking it would make her feel safer if someone watched her back for a bit.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">From this angle you’d never know anything bad had happened at all for those two; like that bastard Marlo Waters hadn’t taken a good chunk of HP out of both of them just hours ago. Oh yes, now he had a last name as well as the kid’s dear old daddy’s to cause hell with- and there will be hell Sans assures you.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Right now Sans was contemplating a personal visit to their home, but mentally shook his head and vetoed it. Something like that could get him in real trouble if he wasn’t careful, and he needed to be or Sans could risk getting fired. He was lucky enough Faun hadn’t complained to one of his superiors to begin with...yet.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Actually, he should probably apologize for that. Faun had sort of redeemed herself tonight, and if what she was saying was any indication then he’d really hate to get on her bad side.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Sans mentally grimaced; ugh, look at him acting like an adult. He feels so old!</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">The skeleton blinked as everyone stopped in front of him. Apparently they’d gotten to BB’s place while he was off scheming in lala land.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">BB put in the key and unlocked it, but all four ended up just staring at the door.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Well,” BB sighed, “Thank you very much Sans for getting me, otherwise this day could have ended much worse.”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Sans frowned tiredly, “Nah, don’t thank me. Any decent person would have done it.” He stretched with a groan, “Tell you what though, I’m dead tired; all that action really wiped me out, you know?”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">BB gave him an equally tired smile, “I know what you mean. I think I’ll close up early for the day and focus on making L-“ the bunny’s face quickly lost color as he threw open the front door shouting, “I FORGOT THE STOVE!”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">The two skeletons stared after him in surprise but Berry just sighed.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Thank you, Papyrus.” She said quietly, fighting her own yawn.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Papyrus smiled unsurely, “What for? I didn’t do anything.”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">The lilac bunny shook her head, floppy ears wagging, “You stayed with me. I thought for sure you’d-“ she cut herself off, but Papyrus seemed to understand anyway if his frantic skull rattling was something to go by.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“You didn’t do anything wrong! Marlo is really scary, so I get it.”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Berry smiled, but didn’t look like she believed him.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Well, I’m going in. You’re welcome to come in too if you want, but I get it if you don’t.”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">A moment passed, and Sans glanced down at his conflicted looking brother, “You want to stay, don’t you?”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Papyrus looked up, sockets watering, “I- Can I? i-it was really scary, and Marlo said some really mean things. I just want to be here for a bit and maybe make up for the bad stuff earlier.”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Sans wanted to say a lot of things in that moment, some of it about how proud he was, some of it about how Paps didn’t need to make up for anything, but what he ended up saying was, “Ask BB if you can stay the night then. I won’t make you go to class tomorrow either way, so you don’t have to worry about coming home if you stay.”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">The smiles he got back for that, though not as radiant as they could have been, made Sans feel like he made the right choice.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">His brother ended up staying over that night.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">—-</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Sans lumbered back home quietly. Without Papyrus beside him the skeleton didn’t really feel the need to suck it up, so he just sort of let himself sag in exhaustion as his feet dragged in the snow and clapped onto the front steps just before he opened the front door-</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1"> <b>“GET OUT!”</b> </span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Brother, please just listen-“</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1"> <b>“S-s-squid! You’re getting in the-e-e way!”</b> </span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Ink, wait! You’re going to break the-“ CRASH!</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">-to a scene of absolute chaos. Skeleton of all sorts of colors that looked way too similarly to him fighting- or atleast, three of them? Stars, actually, how many were there? Five?</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Sans was not in the mood for this. Not one bit.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">The intruders (plus one) froze in mid attack, caught like children as an oppressive magical force pressed down onto their shoulders.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Whoever the fuck you guys are, you have really bad tim- is that my coffee table?”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">The guilty party twitched and followed his gaze to the splintered half of the table held up over the one with a smudge on his cheek’s skull (except for Nightmare who was staring at Sans and doing a frankly terrible job of hiding a wide smile- creepy).</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“I-it’s not what you think-“ the yellow one paused, “-Strings?”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">The blue and dark skeleton- oh, it’s the glitchy one again. Sans could almost smile if he wasn’t starting to feel kind of murderous right now- paused and really looked at him.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1"><b>“Y-y-you guys really have lost it!”</b> The glitch said, <b>“Those two look no-o-othing alike!”</b></span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">The top(?) half of his coffee table fell to the floor with a cringe worthy crash as smudge put his hands on his hips, “No, Dream’s right; that’s definitely the bastard we were talking about. Plus, you have terrible sight Error! Everyone knows that!”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">...did he just call Sans a bastard? Him? A home invader who broke his coffee table?!</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1"> <b>“F-f-fuck you rainbow asshole!”</b> </span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Guys, maybe we should just, calm down for a moment?”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Nightmare’s smile widened as Sans gaze fell on him.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“How do you feel about hurting people?” Sans asked.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">The intruders froze.</span>
</p><p class="p1"><span class="s1"> <b>“I think you know exactly how I feel.” </b></span>Nightmare said rather gleefully.</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Now, h-hold on!” The Blue one interjected, hands up with palms facing out, “There’s no need for violence; this is obviously just a big misunderstanding!”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“I see no misunderstanding here,” Sans denied, crossing his arms and pointedly looking at his broken coffee table, “Just a bunch of home invaders who’re braking my shit.”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">The Blue and Yellow skeletons shot glares at Smudge, who lifted a hand to scratch the back of his skull and smiled sheepishly back at them.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Yeah, sorry about that,” Smudge said, turning back to Sans, “But I can fix it!-“</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">He pulled a (frankly ridiculously huge) paintbrush off his back that Sans hadn’t noticed before and brandished it in front of him like one would hold a broom, but wrong side up.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“-With this!” He cried, thrusting it outwards.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Nightmare quickly appeared beside Sans, who’s face went from startled to deadpanned in five seconds flat.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“I fail to see how painting over it with an oversized duster will fix my table.” He pointed out.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Smudge’s eye lights twisted into a question mark and exclamation point in his sockets as the tension in the room died down a bit, smiles tentatively growing on the other two strangers faces as Glitchy burst into laughter and Nightmare snickered quietly at his side.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Broomy is not a duster!” Smudge denied loudly, clutching the dust- broomy close to his chest, “They’re my friend!”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“They’re collateral if no one explains what the hell you’re all doing in my house in the next five minutes.” Sans huffed.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Blue quickly moved forward, a friendly smile on his face as he clasped his gloved hands together, “Oh, allow me!”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">He stopped abruptly a few feet away as dark tendrils spiked towards him from around Sans’ body, a demonic growl coming from his side. What little good humor that was in the room died rather abruptly, Smudge shifting his hold on broomy into something more threatening as Yellow held out a gloved hand and materialized a bow from thin air. The only one not to react was Glitchy, who raised a curious brow; even Sans felt himself tensing up, though it was more in fear of the unfamiliar sound than anything else.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1"><b>“Kn-n-nock it off, Nightmare,”</b> Glitchy ordered, <b>“Blue ain’t going to hur-r-rt him.”</b></span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Interesting; so Glitchy and Nightmare knew each other- wait, Blue’s name was </span>
  <span class="s2">
    <em>actually</em>
  </span>
  <span class="s1"> Blue?</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Nightmare’s growling didn’t die down, but he did lower his tendrils; and likewise so did the other two, <b>“See to it that he doesn’t. This Sans is one of mine.”</b></span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Sans felt his left socket twitch in unease.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Blue laughed nervously, “Thank you Error-“ Error? The Journal was right after all? Yikes. “-um, as you heard, I’m called Blue; and my friends behind me are Dream and Ink. Together we make up a team of Sanses who travel around the multiverse and protect it!”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">He said that last bit with a pose and a proud little, “Mwehehehe!” It reminded Sans so much of his brother that he found himself relaxing just that littlest bit.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“‘Sanses,’ huh? So every one of you are me?” The fact didn’t surprise him, Sans was pretty sure everyone but Blue was sketched into his journal; and Nightmare hadn’t been shy about his origins (just vague). No, it mostly just amused him; specifically...</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Yup!” Smu- Ink chirped, “Pretty neat, ri-“</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Then why are you all shorter than me?”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">The Creator’s (That’s what his journal called him, right? Sans’ll have to check later) jaw dropped, then snapped closed with an embarrassed rainbow flush as the room filled with giggles and coughs.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“I’m not short!” He cried, flailing a free hand angrily, “I’m a perfectly normal size for a Sans!”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Sans glanced over to Error, who was the tallest amongst the group besides himself (standing just at chin level with the taller skeleton), then Nightmare beside him who was just a bit shorter than the glitch and only reached the top of Sans’ shoulder; he even glanced over to the other two, realizing that Ink wasn’t just short compared to him but also the shortest in the room- though Blue was pretty close in height.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Right...moving on, then.” (“Hey, Don’t ignore me!”) Sans tilted his head, remembering something Yel- Dream(?) had called him, “By the way, who’s Strings? And you still haven’t told me why you’re all here.”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Blue moved back to comfort his gloomy friend, so Dream took over in explaining.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Actually, that’s what we’re trying to find out.” The skeleton wrung his hands together nervously, though his smile only wavered slightly, “See, we were captured a little while ago by someone we called-“ (“Bastard.”) “-Strings; and it just so happens you share a strong resemblance to him.”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“And to you.” Sans pointed out, crossed arms shifting to allow a hand to point at the other.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Dream nodded, “Yes, that’s true. But in all my travels I have yet to find someone who <em>feels</em> the same way as their alternate self- similar, yes, but not the same. Then add the fact that we were dropped off rather suddenly in your world, and...”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Sans sighed, arms falling, “The coincidences stack up.”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1"><b>“E-e-except that’s impossible,”</b> Error cut in, <b>“I w-w-would know if-“</b></span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">He cut himself off, glancing between Sans and the hovering Nightmare as if something just occurred to him. Sans (Like the rest of the room) raised a brow curiously at him, but Error just sort of huffed and looked away, crossing his arms.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Huh...Well, this has been fun and all, but I’ve had a </span>
  <span class="s2">
    <em>really</em>
  </span>
  <span class="s1"> long day and I would really like to go to bed without strangers in my home for once.” Sans pointed at the dark boys, “Except for those two. Those two are cool; they can stay.“</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Dream and Blue gave him surprised looks, but it was Ink’s face that gave Sans the most enjoyment.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“B-b-but they’re the bad guys-“ Blue shot Ink a reprimanding look, “-er, okay maybe only one of them- but Nightmare is totally a bad guy! Why do they get to stay?!”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Sans felt a vindictive smile slowly sprawl onto his face, “Easy! They </span>
  <span class="s2">
    <em>didn’t break my coffee table.”</em>
  </span>
</p><p class="p1">Ink was sent back to his corner of dispair.</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1"><b>“As much as I h-h-hate to say it,” </b>Error cut in,<b> “And believe me-e-e, I hate it- but you can’t kick them out. Our f-f-freedom was conditional. They can’t leave this place.”</b></span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“I fail to see-“/“Actually...”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Sans blinked, meeting the equally startled yellow lights.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Sorry, go ahead-“/“Excuse me, I didn’t mean-“ They paused and laughed awkwardly at each other.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Go ahead.” Sans finally got in. Dream nodded back gratefully and turned back to Error.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“As I was about to say, technically the only one who agreed was you. We can leave whenever we want.”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Oh yeah!” Ink chirped, popping back into the conversation like a watered daisy (much to Error’s torment), “What was it that bastard said? ‘Your fate will be waiting for youAck! Hey!”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Error pulled his strings taunt, squeezing smudge, <b>“Nobody asked y-y-you, paint bomb!”</b> He cut a sharp glare to the other star sans, <b>“And if I’m stuck here-ere-ere, then so are you! I’m not risking my coccyx for your sorry a-a-asses!”</b></span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Blue and Dream laughed nervously with their hands up in surrender. Sans glanced over to Nightmare, concerned by that last bit, and was surprised to see the guardian staring at Error with his own look of worry.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Suppose that settles it, huh?” He murmured to the other, gaining a surprised glance, “I don’t like that ink guy, and I’m certainly not thrilled with hosting surprise guests, but I’m not gonna kick them out if there’s some baddie waiting for his head out there.”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Nightmare sighed, arms crossed tightly, <b>“I suppose so-</b></span>
  <b>
    <em>
      <span class="s2">did you just make a pun?</span>
      <span class="s1">”</span>
    </em>
  </b>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Sans smirked down at him as his tendrils thrashed in agitation, “Wondered how long it would take before you noticed.”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Nightmare hissed at him; it was almost cute.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">——</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Did he trust Nightmare?</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Go ahead.” Sans sighed.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Nightmare gave him a rib shaking grin and descended upon him, tendrils curling around Sans like a cocoon.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">The answer was somehow starting to look like yes.</span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Ink: I’m in danger<br/>Blue: I’ve kept you alive this long, and if Error can’t kill you I doubt anything else c- *sees the murder in Sans lights* Mmmmmaybe not.</p><p> </p><p>—<br/>Me: Psst, was it worth the wait?</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0020"><h2>20. Omake 2</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Well then, this is actually going to require some tag changes. </p><p>WARNING:<br/>Drinking/Alcohol(?)<br/>Sexual/Obsessive behavior<br/>A small bit of Non-Con Touching, but nothing explicit and nothing further than a bit of groping.</p><p>IMPORTANT:<br/>This chapter is completely skipable. If my warnings make you uneasy at all, then you aren’t required to read this.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Sans mentally grumbled, walking quietly down the upstairs hall to his room.</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">All day. He’d felt eyes on him all day. At first it had been unnerving, but now it was just grating and he was convinced they were following him around his house somehow. There just couldn’t be any other way. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">There was a creak behind him.</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Sans spun around, “Aha! Gotcha b-“ no one was there, “-itch. Damn it.” </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Actually grumbling now, he continued to his room. Atleast there he knew he could sleep without worry, since Nightmare still insisted on sharing (read: taking up the entire space of) his bed. Sans has never felt so secure in his life- he hardly even hid under his blankets anymore.</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Okay, partially because his roommate kept stealing those too, but also because every time Sans wakes up the other has practically become his blanket. Those goopy tentacle things really are weirdly adaptive...-! Moving on! Right now!</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Standing at his door, Sans took a moment to relax- and heard something...disturbing...</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Pressing the side of his skull to the door, he listened more closely. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Two people giggling, the clinking of glass, and...were they on his bed? That was definitely his bed springs squeaking...Oh Stars! What if they were-?!</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1"><span class="s1">Alarmed, Sans threw open his door, fully prepared to kink shame the hell out of whoever the fuck was messing around in </span> <span class="s2">his</span> <span class="s1"> room- but came to an abrupt stop.</span></p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“...Nightmare?” </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">His roommate sat on the edge of his bed with a glass bottle of, uh, something in his hand, blinking up at him as Sans walked slowly over; looking all around his room for any signs that he had, maybe, interrupted something...<em>scandalous</em>.</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Nothing. Just a dozen or so glass bottles of various size and shapes sitting in various states of emptiness at the goopy skeleton’s sock covered feet.</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">...Wait a second.</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Sans stared down at his friend’s(?) feet, bare of his usual fluffy slippers. He watched them cross at the ankles with a confounded blush.</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1"><b>“Heh, like what you see?”</b> A tendril reaches out and caressed the right side of his skull, lightly patting his cheek as the other giggled, <b>“You can touch them if you want.”</b></span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">...whaaaaat the fuck.</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Nightmare, buddy, are you okay?” Sans asked, “Your acting kinda weird, and I mean more than usual.”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1"><b>“Hehe, yup! I’m drunk.”</b> Nightmare emphasized that by thrusting the half full bottle in Sans’ face (which made him flinch back) and shaking it gleefully, <b>“And youuuu, haven’t answered my question.”</b></span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Fighting back his sudden unease, Sans gently took the bottle and sat it on the floor with the rest, taking a seat beside the other skeleton (who was watching his face perhaps a bit too intensely). A wise choice? Based on the tentacle wrapping around his wrist and pulling his hand over to Nightmare’s waiting hand, maybe not.</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Nightmare stared down at their joined hands with a soft smile and even softer blush, giggling with an adorable little, <b>“Mwehehe~!”</b></span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">It was terrifying.</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Uh, hey...Nightm-“ </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“I like you, you know.”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Sans blinked, almost not recognizing the soft voice coming from the other.</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Oh, uh, well- that’s good.” Nightmare started staring at Sans’ lap rather unnervingly, “It would be really awkward if you dIDN’T?!” Aaaand he was in Sans’ lap.</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Sans tried to stay calm, “Nightmare, what are you doing?”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Nightmare looked up at Sans, smiling rather happily at the very tense skeleton, “Showing you affection.”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Ah, okay, but why? And can you please get off?” Sans practically begged, hands firmly clenched against his bedsheets.</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Nightmare’s smile fell, “It’s what couples do, right? Am I doing it wrong?”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Ohhhh, no. “Nightmare we are not a couple.”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“We’re not?” Those goopy appendages drooped down, and Sans told himself to stand firm. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“No.” He looked away, not wanting to see his roommate’s face.</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">A pause, and then-</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1"> <b>“We should be.”</b> </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Sans’ skull snapped back down to him, sockets wide. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1"><b>“You’ll be mine,</b> and I’ll be yours,” Nightmare’s sweet smile became a bit too sharp, a bit too wide, “No one <b>will ever come </b>between us...” he shifted around, straddling Sans thigh bones and wrapping his arms loosely around Sans’ neck vertebrae; his friend’s tendrils coming around and playing with the edges of the taller’s clothes- and that’s where Sans drew the line.</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Stop.”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Nightmare didn’t seem to hear him, too deep in his fantasy probably. The goopy skeleton even leaned down and started nuzzling his neck and shoulder, purring.</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Nightmare, <em>stop.</em>” Sans said more loudly. Same thing, but now those tendrils were starting to drift into his clothes. His roommate’s hand took the opportunity to join in, going further than even his tendrils and being so bold as to wrap around his-</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s2"> <b> <em>“S t o p.”</em> </b> </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Nightmare froze, face still buried in his collarbone.</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Get off me.”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Slowly, he did; though only enough to stop actively touching places he shouldn’t have even been in. The guardian still took a chance by sitting on Sans thighs.</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Nightmare.” Sans said warningly.</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“I’m sorry.” Nightmare folded his hands together in front of him, looking down with genuine upset.</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1"><em>“Nightmare.”</em> He said more strongly.</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“P-please don’t be upset with me, I won’t do it again!” There were actual tears in his socket, but Sans felt no sympathy.</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1"><span class="s1">“Nightmare,” Sans felt his teeth grind, “I said, </span> <em> <span class="s2">get. off. of. me.</span> <span class="s1">”</span> </em></p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Nightmare’s skull shot up, got one good look at Sans’ expression, and pulled himself off the other very carefully; watching him the whole time with a wateryteal light.</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Sans’ soul was beating like a hummingbird’s wings in his chest, honest to Stars fear keeping him as stiff as a board while his shaking hands clenched the bedsheets under him.</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“I...<b>I’m sorry,”</b> Nightmare slowly reached out for Sans’ hand again, which Sans watched like a hawk, shaking too hard to actually flinch, <b>“I didn’t mean to scare you, or-“</b></span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“I-it’s fine.” Sans cut in, “Are you back to normal now or should I go sleep on the couch?”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1"><b>“...I’m not as inebriated as I was a moment ago, if that’s what you are referring to,”</b> Nightmare frowned, <b>“But you are most definitely not ‘fine’-“</b></span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1"><span class="s1">“I am.” Sans said </span> <strike><span class="s3">shakily</span></strike> <span class="s1"> firmly, “I’m just a bit spooked, I’ll get over it.”</span></p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1"> <b>“Then why are you looking at me like I’m going to jump you any second now?”</b> </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Sans didn’t answer. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Nightmare let his fingers curled between Sans own, palms (or whatever counts for palms with skeletons) flat against each other.</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1"><b>“You are aware that you can talk to me, correct?”</b> Nightmare asked quietly, resisting the urge to scoot closer.</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“...I j-just...” The guardian perked up, “Can we just...go to bed?”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">He felt his soul sink a bit, <b>“Yes, we can do that.”</b></span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Unseen at the partially closed bedroom door, Seven, Eight, and Eleven shot each other looks.</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">The next Omake would be an interesting read indeed...</span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>I don’t know what the hell just happened here? It was meant to be cute and funny? But then I thought, ‘Realistically, how would someone with Sans background react to this?’ And I thought, ‘Oh, not well.’<br/>But I never meant to type it?! Like this?? It’s not supposed to be almost triggering levels?!</p><p>But I did it. And now I love it. So you get to read it and suffer on a cliffhanger for the next Omake.</p><p>ESW, prepare your guys/gals/non-binary pals for a rough ride in Omake #3</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0021"><h2>21. Chapter 21</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Boom! Less triggering content! Have at it!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p class="p1">
  <em>
    <span class="s1">BWAA BWAA BWAA</span>
  </em>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Sans groaned and pulled his pillow over his head, “Noooo...Sh’d uuuup...”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1"><em>BWAA BWAA BWA</em>-<b>CRUNCH</b></span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“...Nightmur, did yah just murd’r m’ clock?” Sans mumbled into his mattress sheets.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1"><b>“Is it really murder if it’s an inanimate object?”</b> Was the quiet response near his skull.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Sans lifted a hand into the air and let gravity drag it back down onto his bedmate with a soft, moist smack. What did he hit? Stars knows; but it sort of felt like slimy fabric and didn’t grunt in pain, so Sans could safely assume it wasn’t Nightmare’s face.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“B’d goop boy,” he mumbled, already falling back asleep, “Need ‘larm, ‘s ‘mportn’t fer...someth’n...”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">There was a soft huff of air near his neck vertebrae, <b>“Did you just call me ‘Goop Boy’?”</b></span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Sans didn’t physically answer, but he liked to think his sassy mental, “Obviously,” transcend such feeble barriers of communication.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Nightmare sighed, <b>“Only you can call me something so degrading and not have me atleast attempt to skewer you alive for it.”</b></span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Welp, there goes sleep. Sans forced his hand to lift the edge of his pillow, just enough to stare goop boy down from a crack.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1"><b>“What? Why are you looking at me like that?”</b> Evidently, Nightmare could see him too, <b>“And why do you even have that thing when you never actually wake up when it starts that accused racket?”</b></span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">The fact that Nightmare was aware of his morning habits was a bit alarming, but ‘Accused racket?’</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">That teal light blinked slightly wider in confusion, <b>“Why are you smiling? Did I say something funny?”</b></span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“...Heh, you talk like a- a- frick i’s too early fer this-“ Sans fixed the pillow back into place under his head, wincing at the morning light as he forced himself to sit up, “-a whatsamacallit...? Real form’l english stuff.”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Nightmare sat up a moment later, watching Sans stand and shuffle to his dresser, <b>“Are you talking about the manner in which I speak?”</b></span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Sans snapped his index and thumb together, “Speech patterns, yes! Yer’s very regal-ish sounding.” Reaching his dresser, he pulled open his shirt drawer, “Some of that stuff I haven’t even heard outside a book.”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1"><b>“Is it particularly grating?”</b> Nightmare ask, most definitely not worried.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Wha- no, ‘course not. Actually feel like ‘m learn’ something when you say stuff-“ Sans shot a grin over his shoulder, “-Though I do admit I’m sort of waiting for you to start saying stuff like...”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Sans paused, turning to stare down at the fabrics in front of him thoughtfully.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Nightmare blinked, <b>“Sans?”</b></span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“‘But, soft,’”Sans started with a mutter, but finding the words picked up more confidence, “‘What light through yonder window breaks? It is the east, and Juliet is the sun.’”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Nightmare sat up straight, tendril wiggling unseen under the sheets, <b>“You’ve read Shakespeare?”</b></span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Sans shrugged and pulled out a green shirt, closing that drawer and opening the one below it, “Read it? Yes. Understood? Ha!” He shook his head, “I like to think I have good comprehension, but Shakespearean English often left me feeling quite the fool.” Sans said the last bit with a teasing smile and an accent.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1"><b>“I see.”</b> Nightmare’s tendrils slowed, <strong>“Do you perhaps enjoy reading then?”</strong></span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Enjoy it?” Sans asked incredulously, “I love it! Oh, uh, could you look away for a second?”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1"><b>“Oh, yes, of course.”</b> The guardian turned away, mind racing with possibilities before abruptly freezing as he heard fabric rustle in front of him, falling to the floor.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Nightmare kept his gaze firmly away, pushing down the urge to blush furiously.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Sorry,” Sans called, “I’d change in the bathroom again, but someone’s already using it.” Sure enough, with his attention drawn to it, Nightmare could hear the muffled spray of water in the next room over; along with a rather pitchy rendition of some upbeat song he’d not heard of. He decided to focus on that rather than the shuffling of fabric in the same room as Sans continued, “So what kinds of books do you like? Mystery? Adventure? Ooh, I bet you’re a closet Harry Potter fan under all that bluster.”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1"><b>“Harry Potter?”</b> The guardian echoed.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Hmm; Maybe you haven’t heard of that one yet then.”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1"><b>“...Tell you what,”</b> Nightmare crossed his arms, <b>“Tell me your’s and I will tell you mine.”</b></span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Ooh, kinky.”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Nightmare choked, still hidden tendrils locking up in crooked, tight swirls.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“You can look now, by the way.” Sans called over flippantly.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">It occurred to him in this moment that Nightmare could have left any time he wished, but the guardian had been so flustered it hadn’t even occurred to him to try; just what was this skeleton reducing him to??</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Nightmare looked back over, and paused; taking in the soft green T-shirt he’d never seen the other wear in the entire month of nights he’d known Sans.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1"><b>“Green suits you.”</b> He blurted. Sans gave him a confused look before glancing down at his shirt like he’d never seen it before.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Oh,” A light blush and bitter smile, “Well, better get a good look before it’s gone.”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Now it was his turn to shoot the other an incredulous look, <b>“Gone? Are you planning on changing shirts again?”</b></span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Nah, you’ll get it in a minute,” Sans walked over to his bedside table, reaching out for his wallet but frowning and looking down as he heard a metallic crunch under foot, “Dude! You pulverized my alarm! I needed that to wake me up for- oh no. What time is it?!”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">—-</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Dream, Blue, and Error all sat stone silent at the kitchen table; the Destroyer glaring tiredly at the space between Blue and Dream’s shoulders while desperately trying to keep his sockets open. He hadn’t slept all night, and with his still very injured body begging for rest the glitch was practically asleep with his sockets open; deep bags of midnight blue rimming his drooping lids. Blue was not much better off; vacant, lighter blue rimmed stare glued into a steaming coffee mug. Error could only assume the other had fallen prey to his friend’s magic in the night, as they were all very much in range of Nightmare’s sleep area effects; and Dream had been way too physically drained to cancel that effect out with his own; though said guardian, in comparison, seemed better than ever. You would have never known that he’d collapsed almost the instant Dream had stepped through Strings’ portal; and then forced himself up just to hold his much healthier brother off when Ink inevitably spiraled the situation out of control. Now the guardian was practically shooting positive energy lasers out of his ass- you know, like normal.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">And then there was Ink- the Creator, the soulless wonder, the worst abomination to walk the multiverse (until Fresh came along)- who’d woken up uncharacteristically quiet only to take some sips of his paint and sprint to the only bathroom in the entire house; and then started taking a long ass shower while belting out the lyrics of some pop music Error was vaguely familiar with and hated.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">It was hell. Even Dream and Blue flinched when Ink hit those high notes just wrong.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">So it was fair to say the room was tense, if not somewhat out of it; and then, blissfully breaking said tension, came some muffled shouting and thumps from deep upstairs. Somewhere down the second floor hall, someone- Error was mostly sure it was this world’s Sans- banged a door open and shouted, “I’m going to be late!” Followed closely by “aaaaaaAAAAAAAA-“ as he ran down the hall, then stairs (two steps at a time), and then launched himself off it as Sans slipped on the last step; and then he jogged to the front door, apparently having lost some steam along the way.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">A few moments later Nightmare popped up at the foot of the steps with something clutched in a tendril, <b>“Sans, you forgot your wallet.”</b></span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Sans, struggling into his jacket, turned on his heel to face him, “Oh shit! (“Language, Pappy.” Blue muttered.) Throw it!”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Nightmare gave Sans an odd look, but indulged him; the beat up wallet sailing true through the air and smacking the taller dead in the face.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Ow! Thanks!” Sans shoved the wallet into his pocket and readjusted his jacket, then he threw open the front door and ran out with a quick, “I’m going up ahead! Meet you there!” over his shoulder.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">The guardian of negativity just sighed, walking over to close the door behind him- but then paused, groaned, and picked up a pair of black fuzzy slippers with a tendril.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1"><b>“Sans!”</b> He called, sticking his skull out the doorway, <b>“Sans, wait! You forgot your-“</b> Error saw his shoulders slump, <b>“-shoes.”</b></span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Blue face planted onto the table, cooling coffee sitting safely to the side. Error resisted the urge to join him.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Nightmare pulled himself back through the doorway and closed it- then turned rather sharply to their table with a glare.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">
    <b>“Whatever you are thinking that’s causing such a face, stop.”</b>
  </span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">For an exhausted moment Error thought Nightmare was speaking to him, and then wondered what his face looked like; but then he realized Dream had turned in his seat and had been watching the whole scene as well. At this angle the destroyer couldn’t see his face at all.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Sorry.” Dream said, not sounding very sorry at all. Nightmare’s gaze narrowed; apparently he thought so as well.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1"><b>“You are lucky that your circumstances prevent you from leaving this world,”</b> Nightmare’s tendrils tensed threateningly behind him, <b>“Or I would have beaten you to the ground and thrown you into the farthest reaches of the multiverse</b>.”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Dream rested his arm on the back of his chair, then rested his chin on his arm; “That wouldn’t have normally stopped you from ‘beating us into the ground’ anyway though, brother.”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">The dark guardian’s frown grew, looking somewhere between a grimace and a snarl, <b>“Keep testing me Dream, and not even Sans’ requests will stop me from trying.”</b></span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">In an attempt to keep himself awake, Error cut in.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1"><b>“Speaking of-f-f, how long have you two known each other?”</b> And how had he not known about it?</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Dream, intrigued, followed the destroyer’s gaze to his brother.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Nightmare...looked away? His tendrils relaxing and curling in on themselves just slightly, <b>“I could ask the same of you.”</b></span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Dream looked to Error.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Error, had he been more awake, would have flushed dark blue; but somehow he kept it too a light brush of color, <b>“T-t-that’s complicated.”</b></span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">He was, of course, thinking of how Sans took him in and fed him soup- completely friendly stuff- but Nightmare tensed up again, seeing the uncharacteristic splash of color on Error’s dark face.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Dream looked back to his brother, remembering- as he no doubt knew his twin was- that Error could view all sorts of things through his windows.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">For the first time in a long time, Nightmare looked like he wanted to attack the Destroyer.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1"><b>“And what, exactly, does that mean?”</b> The dark guardian hissed.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Error, as tired as he was, still easily picked up on the tone, <b>“It m-m-means what it means. I-I-It’s complicated.”</b></span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Dream, realizing he’d get nothing more from the two, decided the best way to get a straight answer would be to ask the Sans in question. So, as the two dark skeletons tensed up in preparation for a fight, Dream pulled Blue’s unconscious body away into the kitchen (for safety and sneaky reasons), locked on to the scarily familiar feelings that he’d long come to associate with Strings, and shortcutted out with a blaze of light- ironically completely unnoticed.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">It was at this moment that Ink popped his skull out of the bathroom.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Hey! Can someone tell me where the towels are?!”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">——</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Dream opened his sockets with a small expectation of finding this world’s Sans sitting in a Grillby’s, munching down on literally anything covered in globs of ketchup- this was an Undertale, after all- but his expectations were unexpectedly yeeted into a nearby supernova when Dream realized he had shortcutted into the very edge of Snowdin, a few dozen yards away from the ruins.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">You know, where the first sentry station sat.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">There is something very wrong with this Sans, there just had to be! Dream thought; Especially if the Classic version willingly sat at his station- on time mind you!</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Weary, Dream approached the hut with extreme care, painfully aware of the Sans ruffling around with something under the countertop.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Hearing his quiet steps, Sans sat up.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“It’s about time, dude! Did you happen to grab- HOLY FUCK!” Sans flailed wildly, teetering precariously backwards in his seat as both skeletons jumped back in fright of each other; and then the stool tipped over, taking Sans down with it.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">A slow moment passed as both realized what just happened.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“I’m okay!” Came Sans’ muffled shout.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Dream felt himself laugh as he walked over, “Pfft, are you sure?”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Peering down into the hut’s shaded floor, gold met white as the two locked lights; Sans offering him an easy going thumbs up.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Totally!” He said with a grunt, sitting up. Dream offered him a hand up, which gained him a thankful smile and a hand in his own; and with hardly a grunt of effort Dream pulled him back to his feet awkwardly over the counter.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Thanks, dude. Woo! Talk about a soul attack!”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Dream smiled, “Sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you; though I’m sure my brother would call it a cheap jump scare at best.”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Really?” Sans took his hand back, “Well, hopefully he doesn’t try to pull one on me any time soon. I think I might actually faint or something if he tries- a guy like that has to be great at Halloween parties.”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Inwardly Dream startled, having not realized he’d still been holding the other’s hand; but outwardly he gave Sans a politely surprised look, “You mean he hasn’t tried already?”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Nope, but then I’ve only known the guy for, what? Three, four days?” Sans smile became a bit uneasy as he mumbled, “Then again, he could just be waiting for me to get used to him before he scares the life out of me again.”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Dream blinked, “Wait, you’ve only known him for less than a week?”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Yup. Though, uh,” his smile, still unnerved, gained a twitchy quality, “If you were to listen to him, it’s much longer.”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">The guardian frowned, “What do you-“</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Both skeletons screamed in fear as sharply pointed tendrils speared into the ground and countertop between them, accompanied by darkly amused laughter.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">(“Holy frick frack paddy whack temmies on pogo sticks!” Sans cried.)</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <b>
    <span class="s1">“Hello, </span>
    <span class="s2">
      <em>brother</em>
    </span>
  </b>
  <span class="s1"><b><em>.”</em></b> Nightmare purred, eye light slitted like a cats as he stared down at Dream from his seat on the hut’s roof, a pair of fluffy slippers in hand, <b>“What brings you so far out of town, I wonder?”</b></span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">The lighter guardian felt himself sweat a bit under his cape collar, “I just wanted to speak to the Sans of this world for a moment, Brother.”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Nightmare snarled, <b>“Do you really expect me to believe that for even a second- </b></span>
  <b>
    <em>
      <span class="s2">what?</span>
      <span class="s1">”</span>
    </em>
  </b>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Dream blinked, confused, “What?”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1"><b>“No, not you. You!”</b> His brother looked pointedly down at the boney hand poking a tendril jammed into the splintered counter, <b>“What do you want?”</b></span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Sans stuck his skull between two tendrils (much to Dreams horror) and frowned up at Nightmare at an awkward angle.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“You’re destroying public property, dude!” He cried.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Nightmare gave him a flat look, <b>“And I care, why?”</b></span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Sans squinted up at him, huffed, and pulled himself back into the safety of the hut; arms crossed and pouting as he grumbled to himself something about paying for damages.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">To Dream’s complete bafflement, Nightmare rolled his eye light and subtly readjusted his tendrils before turning on the light guardian again.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">
    <b>
      <em>“As I was saying-“</em>
    </b>
  </span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Error plopped in a moment later, falling from a portal in the air into the snow beside them with a groan.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Nightmare screeched in frustration.</span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Sans: *sad pouts*<br/>Nightmare: damn, now I feel bad.<br/>Nightmare: *reluctantly listens*<br/>Dream:<br/>Dream: <em>who are you and what have you done with my brother.</em></p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0022"><h2>22. Chapter 22</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Yoooo, so I just want to say that Sans has a bad moment after “a week later” section  break, so if it starts getting to you then maybe just ask what happened in the comment section. I don’t know if it’s triggering or not, but I get the feeling it might and I honestly don’t know what tags to use here.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Lust hummed a small tune as he searched the kitchen cabinets.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Would either of you like a cup of coffee?” He called to the next room, voice straining a bit halfway as he reached for a mug at the top shelf on his tippy toes.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Nah, we good bro!”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">With a pleased little, “Aha!” Lust snagged the coveted handled cup and fell back on his heels, happily reaching for the crappy old coffee jug and poring himself a steaming mug.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Are you sure?” He called again, “I was thinking about putting pumpkin spice creamer in!”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Thanks, but-“ There was a muffled thump in the next room, followed by a tussle; Lust bit back a giggle.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“I would like a cup if it’s not too much trouble, Lust!”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“No trouble at all, hun! Same amount of sugar as last time?”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Yes, please-ack! Get off me, Fresh!” More thuds and thumps.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“No can do my radical friend! Turnabout is totes fair play!”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Lust snorted, grabbing another (smaller) mug and repeating the ritual; except this time he jammed it with enough sugar to turn the liquid into the consistency of syrup, mentally gagging. A moment later he was pouring creamer into both cups in more reasonable quantities before putting it back up in the fridge.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Grabbing both cups, he gingerly walked into the next room. Seeing him enter, Fresh popped off the struggling Strings and took a seat on the back of the couch with his legs crossed, sunglasses reading “Ha-ha” in neon blue and yellow.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Strings grumbled but his lights were quick to lock on to the steaming mugs as Lust approached, hands shooting out eagerly to take the cup as he readjusted himself in his seat. Lust handed it over with a smile, perching daintily on the coffee table with his legs crossed.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“So how is phase 1-B going?” He asked, taking a sip of his completely normal beverage.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Eh, well, better than I expected; but I really should have known my boys wouldn’t listen.” Strings closed his sockets, holding the mug close as he breathed in the warm aroma, “Dream especially never liked leaving mysteries unsolved for long.”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Nothing that will compromise 1-A, I hope?” Lust asked. Fresh stared down at them with an absent smile, but the UnderLust skeleton wasn’t fooled for a moment.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Nah, just my identity. Real lowkey level stuff.”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Lust brows raised, “And yet, you hold that secret closer than anything else.”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Strings popped a socket open with a smirk, “Gotta save some stuff for later. If I told you outright then it’d be boring!”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Fresh crossed his arms, nodding, “Dudes got a point. Some mysteries yah gotta learn for yaself, you know?”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">The purple skeleton shot him a sour look as Strings took a sip of coffee before sighing, “I just wish you’d talk to me more. We’ve been allies for the last few years, and I’m only just getting a name to call you.”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Mm!” Strings pulled the cup away, “Not true, you’ve been calling me hun for atleast half that time!”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Lust frowned, “That’s not the same and you know it.”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">There was a lull in conversation for a moment as all three just looked at each other.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Strings sighed, “Okay, yes, fair enough; but believe me when I say it’s not from lack of want; I’m not doing it to be mysterious either. It’s just not time yet.”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Then when will it be time?” Lust asked exasperatedly.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">This time the silence dragged on longer asStrings tilted his skull in thought. It dragged on so long that Lust began to wonder if he would say anything at all; but-</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“...two years.” The skeleton nodded to himself, “Give me two years and I’ll give you my name, my real name- provided you haven’t figured it out by then.”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“What happens in two years?” Fresh wondered, unknowingly echoing Lust’s thoughts out loud.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Hopefully the results of our hard work, if I’m guessing right.”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">———</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">The day started off normal enough; Sans woke up to a fussing Nightmare trying to murder his newest alarm clock, Sans went downstairs and made himself a quick breakfast, and then Sans did his best to dodge a curious Dream as he left for work on time- much to Blue’s astonishment.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Okay, so not all of that was normal; but damn it, he wanted it to be! Sans had a routine to uphold!</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Nightmare, as per norm as of the last five days now, followed him to his station- or more correctly put, beat him there. Unfortunately, he wasn’t the only skeleton waiting for Sans when he got there. Surprisingly, it wasn’t Dream; it was Blue.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Sans didn’t even get a chance to settle in before Blue was on him; an excited mess of nerves and starry eye lights barely held back by the counter in front between them. Nightmare watched on like a crow from his perch on top of the hut but only hissed in warning at the short skeleton, a tendril thumping lightly against the roof in warning.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Yes, hi,” Sans leaned back carefully, not wanting a repeat of yesterday, “Can I help you?”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Fight me!” Blue blurted.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“...uhh...” Sans saw a hanging tendril tense and slowly sharpen threateningly towards Blue.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Blue blushed, “It’s just; you got up at a reasonable hour, went to work on time, and you even have these two crazy strong skele-gods listening to you- so you must be really strong!”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">The tendril paused and Sans raised a brow, “Uh, not really; and to be fair, Error seems to listen to you too. That scolding you gave him last night didn’t all go out one ear.”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Blue pulled back and waved him off, “Yes but I was kidnapped-“ (“Say what.”) “-and you weren’t! And I can’t see Nightmare listening to anyone otherwise.”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">
    <b>“He has a point.”</b>
  </span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Sans sent a dubious look at the tendril, since it was the only part of Nightmare he could see, “Look, that’s all well and good, but as you can see, I’m all bones.”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Blue giggled while Nightmare groaned above them, and it took Sans an embarrassingly long moment to realize he’d make a pun- and then he was just embarrassingly proud of himself.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“All funny business aside,” Sans continued, “I’m serious when I say that the best I can do is intimidate the crap out of someone.”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Blue’s brows furrowed, “But that can’t be right. Sanses are the powerhouses of their worlds.”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Nope, not me brolio,” Sans leaned forward onto his elbows, “Why do you think all my utensils have grips? It’s not for aesthetic, I assure you.”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Blue brows furrowed even more, “You can’t form magic onto your hands?”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Nnnnope!”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“What about a tongue?”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Nightmare coughed loudly above them.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“We have tongues??” Sans asked incredulously.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“...right. Okay.” Blue nodded to himself, “I’ve decided!”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Sans flinched as an index finger pointed inches away from his nose hole.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“From this day forward, for as long as we are trapped here, I! The Magnificent Sans! Shall train you!” Blue declared loudly.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Sans felt his face drain of color, and somehow he could almost hear a voice say, “The FitnessGram™ Pacer Test is a multistage aerobic capacity test that progressively gets more difficult as it continues.”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">——— A Week Later ———</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">They were out of milk.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Sans huffed, pulling himself away from the fridge, “Okay! Who drank the last of the milk and didn’t tell me?!”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">The living room went dead quiet.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">The skeleton sighed, closed the fridge, and walked into the next room, “Look, you’re not in trouble or anything, I just wish whoever it was told me earlier so I could have avoided a second trip to the store today.”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Huddled together on the couch like guilty children, the Star Sans watched him walk in with owlish sockets; but it was Error, who sat alone in a recliner in the corner, who Sans was giving the stink eye.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Error met his gaze dead on and, with deliberate movements, took a long sip of his cup of milk- eye lights never wavering.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Sans felt his socket twitch, “You little shit.”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">The boys giggled, earning them a stern glance.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Ugh,” he groaned under his breath, “I should make you all scavenge for dinner.”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Blue sat up eagerly, “I could make it!”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">
    <b>
      <em>“NO!”</em>
    </b>
  </span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Blue pouted, crossing his arms and settling back down, “I’m not that bad.”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“You kind of are,” Ink confessed not unkindly. In retaliation Blue shoved him off the couch, but Ink grabbed his arm and they both tumbled to the ground; luckily missing Sans’ newest coffee table by an inch.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">As they began their playful brawl, Dream sighed; pulling his legs up onto the couch to avoid being dragged in. Error just shot the two a disdained glance before smugly returning to his glass of milk.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Sans resisted the urge to smile just barely, “Alright, I’ll be heading out then. Again. Dream, Error?”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Dream perked up, asking a soft “Yes?” just as Error hummed questioningly.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Can you two make sure these hooligans don’t destroy the house again? And also keep a socket out for Pap? He’s due home in a few minutes for dinner.”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Of course!” Dream smiled up at him, then winced as a dull Thunk! sounded from, well, probably Ink’s skull if the quick little “Are you okay?” Blue asked was any indication.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1"><b>“Just go o-o-on.”</b> Error grumbled, <b>“We’ll keep the idiots in l-l-line.”</b></span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Hey!”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Sans smiled and made for the door, luckily having kept all his stuff on him from earlier, “Thanks guys. I’ll be back in a few.”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Dream called out a quick, “Be safe!” As he opened the door; and then, with a firm click, Sans shut it behind him.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">It was much quieter outside; lonelier. Sans found himself missing his usual tagalong, Nightmare, but he had apparently been putting off work too long and had to go back home, wherever that was.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">The snow cushioned every crunch of his slippers, and even though he lived close to town it almost felt like the rest of the underground was dead.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Oof, bad thought Sansy,” the skeleton muttered to himself.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">It only took two minutes at best to reach the only shop in Snowdin, and a mere handful of seconds to enter. There was a small blast of what he could only assume was warm air against his face as he entered, quickly followed by the equally warm smell of fresh baked sweets. Sans made a mental note to grab a couple on his way out for the boys; Bro loves those things, and Dream deserved a treat for watching the house.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">(Sans thought about grabbing one for Error, but then he remembered that it was the glitches fault he was even out here in the first place; that hoe.)</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">The shop wasn’t like surface stores where customers could just grab cold goods from a public fridge and check out. Here one had to approach the sweet but tough owner Mrs. Bunns (who was, as you can imagine, a bunny monster) and ask for whatever quantity of milk she had at the time. Small towns meant small shops, and sometimes that meant less food stock, which other people used to regularly beat Sans to when he first got here; Grillby being the worst offender of the lot. It didn’t mean you would starve, but you’d definitely be munching on an improvised dish until the next day.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Sans!” Mrs. Bunns called happily from the front counter, “Didn’t I just see you earlier?”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Sans laughed sheepishly, hand coming up to scratch his cheek as he walked over, “Yeah. I got home and found out that my guests had finished off the milk while I was gone, those sneaky butts.”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">He paused in his stride as he walked around an isle. From the door it was easy to see Mrs. Bunns cheery motherly visage from counter-up, but the shelves were just tall enough that- should you be shorter than the counter- it was almost impossible to see you. So Sans was a bit taken aback when he rounded the bend and was struck with the glaring little beady eyes of a remarkably short (adult!) bunny monster.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Suddenly he wondered what he’d just walked into.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Mrs. Bunns’ brows furrowed at Sans’ pause, following his gaze back to the hostile bunny before frowning.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Mrs. Waters?” Sans jolted at the familiar name, “Is there a problem?”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“You know full well what the problem is, Deborah,” Mrs. Waters glare burned with intensity, “You’ve let a skeleton into your shop!”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">The reaction was immediate.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Minnie!” Mrs. Bunns cried in outrage as Sans’ sockets widened in shock, “How could you say that?!”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Those beady eyes turned to Mrs. Bunns, “How could you allow the ones responsible for the birth of Mages to buy your merchandise?!”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Sans had never met Marlo, but he had sort of been under the impression he didn’t have a mother; now Sans was wondering if there was a reason for that.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Mrs. Bunns let out an exasperated huff, “Are you really going on about that old rumor? That stupid thing was disproven decades ago with Asgore’s backing- Sans isn’t even old enough to have seen the sun, let alone propagate an entire new race!”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“You don’t know that! I’ve been asking around,” Wait, what? “And you know what? Those two only appeared a few years ago!” Mrs, Waters- actually, no, fuck propriety- Minnie flung her stare back to Sans, “They came out of nowhere, and no one could remember seeing a skeleton for years before that; these two could be surface spies! Sleeper agents sent to destroy us once and for all!”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">There was a pause of absolute disbelief as the two sane monsters stared down at her in shock while she took a second to catch her breath.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Also,” Oh Stars, there’s more? “Asgore is an old, cowardly fool and can’t be trusted.”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Wow.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Minnie must have struck a cord in Mrs. Bunns; the shock on her face morphing into a snarl as she took an enraged inhale.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“And with that-“ Sans cut in quickly, “-I have lost all respect for you and no longer care what you have to say. Mrs. Bunns, do you have atleast a cup of milk left in the back?” Forget the sweets; he better get out of here before things got any more dicey.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Looking like Sans stole the wind from her sails, the taller bunny monster’s shoulders slumped a bit; unwinding from her aggressive stance. The skeleton gave her a moment to settle, but with the little bunny between them looking more and more like a pressure cooker about to go off, he hoped he didn’t come off as rude when he rushed her with a wide socketed stare.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Y-yes,” Mrs. Bunns nodded, “I’ll go get it now.” But she hesitated, looking between the two at odd monsters. Sans did his best to look unbothered, but he couldn’t help the tension in his shoulders and the clenching of his jaw.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">With great reluctance, she left for the back room; and Sans, eyeing the remaining bunny, made a move to walk around her for the counter.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Minnie stepped out in front of him.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Looking back, Sans knew he should have realized just what she was doing, but he honestly didn’t; he’d never encountered anything like this.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Sans tried to step around her again, and again she stepped out in front of him.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Excuse me, can you please move?” Sans tried to keep his tone level.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“I know what you’re up to, you and that little brat of your’s.” Minnie hissed up at him, ears flopping backwards with how far she had to look up.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“...I beg your pardon?”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Yeah! That’s right,” she smirked, “I know all about your attempts to get my son into trouble; but he knows- I’ve told him all about your kind.”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Sans sockets narrowed and his mouth opened, but regretfully she wasn’t done speaking.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“You wouldn’t believe how happy I was when I went to see him and he told me all about how he tried to save a fellow bunny from the clutches of a bastard skeleton child- about how all year long he’s been doing the Stars work freeing his classmates from your evil!” Minnies smile surprisingly reflected her words; the smile of a parent bragging about her child’s good grades, “I told him, ‘Keep it up, baby! You’re making Mama proud!’”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">She was lucky that in that moment Mrs. Bunns walked back out, and based on her pale face and slacked jaw, Sans assumed she heard atleast half of that confession.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">The milk thudded sharply onto the counter in its glass container, the shop owner’s arm seemingly loosing steam as Mrs. Bunns gasped out, “Minnie, tell me you didn’t really!”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Minnie gave her a smug look over her shoulder, arms crossed.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Minnie!” Mrs. Bunns scolded, horrified, “Marlo took atleast ten HP off of both children!”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Nothing either didn’t deserve, I’m sure.”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Sans...Sans was beyond words. Far. Beyond. Words.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">So he took a cheap little shortcut around the little psycho and popped up in front of the counter, accidentally scaring both bunnies.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“How much?” Sans asked Deborah quietly.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Mrs. Bunns gave him a long look, “...15g.”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Hey! Hold on a minute!” Sans ignored her while he dug the change out of his pockets, “Hey!” A growl, “Keep ignoring me and I swear I’ll personally make your son’s life a living hell!”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Sans refused to rise to the bait, he refused to walk into her trap. He paid; and Mrs. Bunns bagged the milk into a sack, handing it over.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Sans turned, knowing the little bunny was right behind him- but he didn’t expect her to be nearly on his heels. He certainly didn’t expect her to let out a war cry and hop up to his level.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">
    <b>
      <em>-5</em>
    </b>
  </span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">The sack fell from his hands and met the floor with a resounding smash, Sans stumbling back into the counter. He lifted a shaking hand to his burning face, hearing Mrs. Bunns raising her voice in alarm behind him; but was quickly drowned out by an all consuming static growing in his skull. Unfortunately, Minnie’s voice was still clear as day.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">She clicked her tongue at him, feet back on the floor, “It’s rude not to look at someone when they’re talking to you, you know.”</span>
</p><p class="p1"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">
    <b>
      <em>Look at me when I’m talking to you!</em>
    </b>
  </span>
</p><p class="p1"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">For a split second, someone else stood in her place; fuzzy, incomprehensible, but there and so, so-</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Sans panicked and took a shortcut; stumbling into snow just a few yards away from his front door.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">A light breeze swept across his stricken face and Sans almost winced as the burning became more pronounced. It hurt more than he thought it should’ve; but then, he’d never been slapped before...right?</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Why did this feel so familiar?</span>
</p><p class="p1"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">
    <b>
      <em>Look at me, damn it! Are you even paying attention?!</em>
    </b>
  </span>
</p><p class="p1"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Sans hugging himself as he rushed for the front door. He reached out a shaking hand for the knob and schooled his expression into something more neutral, but his body refused to stop shaking.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">The door opened just a hair too quickly, and as Sans stepped in he accidentally overcompensated by closing it too slowly. Luckily the boys seemed deeply involved in some movie and barely seemed to notice his appearance.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">And what an appearance he no doubt made. Sans knew his face was greyed out as the magic in it gathered in his slightly too wide sockets, turning his eye lights sunshine yellow; he knew because he’d seen and felt it every day for two years when Sans looked in a mirror.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Sans was quick to retreat to the kitchen.</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">
    <b>
      <em>Do I need to knock some sense into you? Do you want that?</em>
    </b>
  </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">The static grew louder and his bones felt colder as he stood shaking in the middle of- nothing. He was standing in nothing.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“No.”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">
    <b>
      <em>Then tell me what I have to do to make you pay attention, because it’s obvious you’re not listening!</em>
    </b>
  </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">His sockets watered and his teeth clenched; he wasn’t sure why he was talking out loud, “I don’t know!”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">
    <b>
      <em>I said, LOOK AT ME!</em>
    </b>
  </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“I AM!”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">
    <b>BANG, CRASH, SLAM!</b>
  </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">
    <b>“W-w-woah!”</b>
  </span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Sans blinked, chest heaving, and just like that the kitchen was back; and a complete disaster zone.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“...what?” He whispered to himself, looking around. Cabinets hung wide open, plates and glasses laid in shattered pieces all over the floor, and even on the counter! Utensils- even the spoons- were speared into the wallpaper, and some lay bent out of shape with bits of chipped tile laying around them. The fridge was a sort of “slip and die” zone with tons of large shards of cold glass sprinkled in with a gross mess of mixed liquids and produce- some of which Sans had bought earlier that day.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Not even the ceiling was spared, he realized with a start. Stars knew how, but Sans had apparently managed to jab every single knife handle into it, making the ceiling look like a very dangerous hedgehog from below.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Apparently Blue’s training had paid off.</span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Nightmare: *wistful sigh into paperwork*<br/>Dust: woah, what was that?<br/>Nightmare: what?<br/>Dust: That sigh! You sound like killer when you send cross out on recon missions!<br/>Nightmare: No I don’t!<br/>Dust: yes you do!<br/>Nightmare: *fucking yeets Dust out of his office* I DO NOT!<br/>Dust: *groaning, down the hall* you totally doooooo!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0023"><h2>23. Chapter 23</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Ugh, I don’t like how this came out at all. But hey! It’s here!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Four creatures of poor civil conduct gathered shamelessly against a dark, heavy wooden door; to which lead to a far more sinister creature’s lair. The creature, a Demigod of Darkness by any other name, was called Nightmare by most of the vast reaches of the universe; and had caught his minions attention on this day with his late return and unusual behavior.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">One minion, a humble knight who dawned a broad sword on his back, watched his fellows with growing exasperation; especially his lover, Killer, who decided to hold count of every wistful sigh their powerful leader-</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“What are you doing?”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Cross jumped, pen sharply cutting through his last paragraph, “Gah! Dust!”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">The LV loving skeleton gave him a deadpan stare, “Are you writing fanfiction on our tally paper?”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“N-no!” Cross denied. At the same time Killer pulled away from the closed door, attention caught.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Did someone say fanfiction?” He asked, leaning over Cross’ shoulder, “Can I see it?”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Cross squawked and held the paper up and away from his lover’s prying sockets, “No, it’s not done yet!”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“So it is fanfiction.” Dust confirmed with a growing frown.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Another one.” Horror called over his shoulder flatly.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Killer blinked over to him, “Wait, already? But it’s only been a few minutes!”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Horror shrugged and returned to his espionage, not letting the others distract him.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Dust scowled down at the duo, “It’s just like you to go off and do your own thing. Were you even doing your job or just fucking around?”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Cross’ face dropped, letting his face and arms fall back down to his crossed legs. Killer watched with a frown before turning his skull up to Dust.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Knock it off, he was just having some fun; it’s not like we’re on a serious mission or anything.”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Dust’s lights glowed just a bit brighter under his hood, “Whether it’s serious or not is besides the point; he had one job, and we were relying on him to do it.”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Guys,” Horror called over.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Killer pushed himself to his feet, “Well if you wanted it done so badly, why didn’t you do it yerself?”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Killer, don’t-“</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“You stay out of it, cowboy!” Dust hissed down to Cross, who hid a wince.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Guys!”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Don’t talk to him like that.” Killer said more firmly.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“GUYS!”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“What?!” Dust and Killer turned to the famine skeleton, only to freeze.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Boss is here.” Horror stated obviously from beside the deeply frowning guardian, the door behind them wide open.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1"><b>“What the hell are you boys doing?”</b> Their boss asked.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Cross scrambled to his feet (having been the last sitting on the floor) and hid the paper behind his back, “Nothing, Boss.”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">The Dust and Killer nodded frantically in agreement under Nightmare’s trailing stare.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1"><b>“...very well. Cross, Horror,”</b> the two straightened up, <b>“I’ve got a mission for you.”</b></span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">———</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Dream swept around Sans’ feet with a soft, “Watch out,” while Blue tugged out knifes from the ceiling with blue magic. </span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Ink and Error were, for once, working together; Ink drawing up new pottery in every pattern under the sun at the dining table (Dream wincing at some of the more garish designs, but otherwise pretending not to see) while Error used his ridiculous strength to smooth out the dents in the pots and pans.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Sans was huddled up in a far corner of the kitchen, arms tight around his legs as he stared blankly at his knees. He’d gone over there when everyone had rushed in earlier and refused to leave it when they’d tried to coax him out; which had earned them the title of Idiots from Error, who told them to “Leave him alone, h-h-he’ll come out when he’s rea-a-ady.” Dream hadn’t been sure about that; but then, he’d never actually had to put in the effort to comfort someone either.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Actually, no; that wasn’t completely true. There were four people in the room with him, and so far the only one actually effected by his aura was Blue; but Blue was used to his presence and had long learned how to block Dream’s ability. Even now Dream could feel his magic sticking onto Blue’s like a stubborn webbing, but it was easily ignored; the other’s were different.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">With Ink, If Dream’s magic tried to attach itself to his soulless friend, it would be pulled in and ripped away from him as if caught in a black hole- never to be seen again; but if it went after Error, it would find itself blocked by numerous unseen pixels and obliterated at the point of contact. (Both were painful sensations, and so his magic learned to avoid them.)</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Sans was, well, a wild card for lack of better words. The first few days into their acquaintanceship, Dream tried no less than twenty times to lift his spirits- with mixed results. The guardian had thought it was Nightmare’s doing when it hadn’t worked for the first time. It had been working just fine before, so what else could it have been? So Dream tried again, for once consciously wrapping the thinnest of webs around their host’s wrist- only for it to somehow slide right off again.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">The rest of that day he spent experimenting, desperate to find out what he was doing wrong until his brother approached him that night in the kitchen and, laughing at him as he did, warned Dream off from trying to influence Sans’ mood any further.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">
    <b>“This has all been very amusing, but you need to stop while you’re ahead, Dream. if Sans doesn’t want to feel something, then he doesn’t have to.”</b>
  </span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“But this doesn’t make any sense!” Dream had argued, “He’s just a normal Sans, he shouldn’t be able to block me out like that!”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Nightmare leaned back against the counter, smirking as he crossed his arms, <b>“He also shouldn’t be able to return the favor, and yet he does.”</b></span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Dream frowned, “What are you talking about?”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1"><b>“You haven’t noticed?”</b> His brother asked, <b>“Can’t you feel it now?”</b></span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">It took a moment, but now that he was looking for it Dream could easily pick out the sluggish crawl of magic clinging to his feet as it traveled around and coated the floor like a fog.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“...how...?”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Nightmare pushed himself off the counter and shrugged as he started walking towards the archway, <b>“A mere Sans he is not, brother. Whatever this is, it blocks us when he’s awake-“</b> a slightly sinister smile crossed his face, <b>“-but while he’s asleep...”</b></span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“...He’s vulnerable.” Dream concluded. Nightmare shot that smile at him over his shoulder before melting into the floor. Dream went to follow, feeling unnerved, but when he found his twin-</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">BANG!</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Dream and Blue yelped, the broom in the guardian’s hands slipping through his fingers and clattered against the tile floor as he jumped.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“BROTHER!” A high pitched voice cried into the house as footsteps quicklythumped across the floor to the kitchen, passing Ink as they skidded into view and caught themselves on the kitchen archway.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Where’s-Sans?!” Papyrus demanded, panting as he scanned the room. Dream was just about to answer when the child’s sockets zeroed in on Sans’ corner.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Brother!” He cried, launching himself over and kneeling beside the ball of bones, “Are you okay? Are you hurt? Why are you sitting on the floor? Do you need help-?”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Dream bent to pick up the broom, listening to the near overwhelming amount of questions spewing from the little bones and the telling silence from his brother.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Papy- oh!” A new voice called from the dining room, “Sans? Is that you?”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Oh! No no no!” He hear Ink deny quickly, “I’m just a guest; Sans is in the kitchen-“ there was a soft shuffle of feet and Ink’s voice cane out more quickly as he said, “-but you mightnotwanttogointhererightnow-!”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">The Nice Cream guy poked his head into the room, face set into a worried frown, “Sans?”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">The bunny paused and took in the messy room, face becoming more stern as he took in the piles of shattered glass and porcelain, and the unfamiliar (or maybe too familiar) faces.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">A glance over showed Sans still firmly hiding in his corner, except now his face was hidden in his knees as Papyrus spoke to him more quietly. The other two skeletons in the room were frozen in place like deer in headlights and, with a sigh, Dream realized he’d have to do the talking here.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Dream slapped on a smile, “Hello! Who are you?”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">The bunny’s frown loosened a bit, “Oh, sorry. My name is BB; I’m looking for Sans?”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Dream walked over with the broom clutched in both hands, “Nice to meet you BB, but unfortunately I don’t think Sans wants to see anyone right now.”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">BB’s face became severe, “So it’s true then? That crazy bunny Minnie Waters attacked him?”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">
    <b>“WHAT?!”</b>
  </span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">The room burst into chaos; Dream almost dropped the broom again, Blue rushed over and joined Papyrus on the floor-asking all the same questions- while Error marched past Dream and right up to BB with intent in his lights.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1"><b>“W-w-what the hell are you talking about?!”</b> Error demanded, hands clenched tightly at his sides like he wanted to grab the bunny around the neck.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">BB leaned away from the much shorter monster nervously, “S-Sans didn’t tell you?”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">
    <b>“Obviously n-n-not! He h-h-hasn’t said a damn thing since he got back-!”</b>
  </span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Dream cut in, “Can you tell us what happened?”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Error shot a glare at him, but BB gave him a thankful look.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“I took the kids over to the shop a few minutes ago. We were already running late but Papyrus said that Sans wouldn’t mind as long as we had a good reason, and there was something I really needed that I’d remembered last minute...” Dream nodded for him to go on, “So, um, we get there and Mrs. Bunns, Undyne, and a couple guards were standing outside the shop talking while Minnie Waters was being dragged away by Greater Dog, saying all kinds of nasty stuff-“ BB’s face hardened a bit, “-really, really nasty stuff. When I went to ask what happened, we overheard Mrs. Bunns saying how Sans had just been trying to get some food when Minnie Waters started threatening him and belittling him pretty much out of nowhere. Sans tried to be the better person and apparently she didn’t like that very much, so she slapped him.”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Beside him, having moved back some during the explanation, Error growled.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Did this Mrs. Bunns say why?” Dream asked.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">BB’s face didn’t change, but Dream could feel the anger burning hotter inside him, “No, but she didn’t have to; Minnie Waters was screaming how Sans was ‘evil’ and would ‘kill us all’ when our backs were turned.”<br/></span>
</p><p class="p1"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s2">
    <b>
      <em>We must kill him before he can kill us!</em>
    </b>
  </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Dream felt a chill run up his spine, those words ringing familiar in his skull. Without meaning to the guardian’s gaze dragged over to the huddled form of his crowded friend, somewhat hidden behind Blue and Papyrus.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Mrs. Bunns said Sans ran off before she could [Check] him.” The bunny continued, following his stare, “She also said he looked really freaked out and wasn’t responding to her at all just before he took off. I was hoping- well, I don’t know what I was hoping for, but obviously not this.”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">A quiet moment passed, the three (four of you counted Ink eavesdropping from the dining room) not knowing what to say or even do. </span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">A sob tore through the mood.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Sans, what’s wrong? Brother?” Papyrus asked frantically, hands shaking the skeleton just as Blue flinched away and turned to the other three with a pleading look.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Error huffed, <b>“Alright, e-e-everyone out!” </b></span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Blue, BB, and Dream all reluctantly moved to leave, but Error gave Dream a pointed look, <b>“Not you-u-u. I need you to do your weir-r-rd feel good thing.”</b></span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“B-but I-“ Error gave him a look and walked over to Sans, leaving Dream to sputter helplessly. Blue gave him a sympathetic pat and a soft ‘good luck’ as he walked past.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1"><b>“You too kiddo,”</b> Error spoke down to the little bones, <b>“I n-n-need to speak to your b-b-brother without little ears around.”</b></span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Papyrus turned a glare on the older skeleton, ready to argue- but Sans muttered something into his knees that Dream couldn’t hear from where he stood and then Papyrus was reluctantly moving; though not without glaring at them the whole time and making the ‘I’m watching you’ gesture from the archway before he left.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Error plopped down a foot away from the skeleton and, with a great deal of hesitation, Dream walked over and took the opposite side on the floor. From here he could feel a whole cocktail of negative emotions; and, in an effort to atleast try and help (even though he was sure it wouldn’t work), Dream wrapped a few strands of his magic around Sans wrist.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">To his surprise, they stayed.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">
    <b>“S-s-so. What happened?”</b>
  </span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Dream looked at the destroyer dubiously, wondering how Error could possibly think that being that straightforward would work- and then turned that look on Sans when he responded to Error’s method.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Muffled by his knees, Sans blubbered out, “S-she sound-ounded just like d-dad!”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">...dad? Was he talking about a Gaster?</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Dream and Error locked lights over Sans head.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“What did she say?” Dream asked gently, scooting a bit closer.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Sh-she-e sa-“ Sans stopped and breathed for a moment, “Sh-she said that I should- should look at her w-when she’s-“ his socket watered as he keened the last word out, “-speakiiiing!”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Dream flinched away and looked at Error, and Error gave him a look.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1"><b>“You’re f-f-friend said she slapped you t-t-too. Was that something-ing-ing-?”</b> Sans was already nodding his head, gasping as he tried to get himself under control.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“‘T was r-rare, though,” Sans forced out, seeing Dream balk beside him, “On-only did it w-when I rea-really pissed him off.” </span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1"><b>“He shouldn’t hav-av-ave done that at all,”</b> Error said darkly. Oddly enough, this seemed to make Sans more upset.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“H-he wasn’t a b-bad person-“</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1"><b>“But he hurt y-y-you,”</b> Error interrupted, <b>“Bad enough that-at-at when you hear certain things, or l-l-look at something, a-a-all you can see is him.”</b></span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">And like the curtains parting in a theater, Dream understood. Sans just buried his head back into his knees and cried, not denying it but also not disproving it either. At that moment, Dream decided to do something risky; something Error would never do but Sans probably needed more than anything.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">He got on his knees, leaned over, and latched onto Sans’ back for dear life. It was awkward, and Sans tensed under him almost immediately; but then a moment passed, then another, and another.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Slowly, Sans relaxed; and Dream mentally sighed in relief, glad that, for once since he met this strange Sans, something was going the way it normally did. Beside them the glitch shuffled a bit closer; probably the closest thing to a hug he would ever give.</span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Killer: *walking into study* hey boss, have you seen-<br/>NM: *Yeets Parenting 101 out a window and tries to act casual*<br/>Killer:...what was that?<br/>NM: What was what?</p><p> </p><p>(Hey! It’s my birthday soon! *does floss dance*)</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0024"><h2>24. Hiatus (Temporary!)</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Alright, strap in because this is quite the talk! Leave now if you don’t want details, because I’m gonna rant!</p><p> </p><p>Still here? Okay, you asked for it!</p><p> </p><p>For the last week or so (idk, time is blurring together) I’ve been in a really bad head space. I’m talking curl up in a shower under cold water so no one can hear me crying, kind of head space. The sort where you bottle things up and then one day you hear a song or someone says something just right and suddenly your a blubbering mess for a solid two hours or more because for some freaking reason you can’t stop. The kind where you go to bed crying and then wake up with the worst headache behind your eyes- like a hangover or something but the only thing you got drunk on was sadness and snot. Yes, I know; gross visuals. Like I said, TMI.</p><p>anyway, so I was seriously considering burning/deleting everything last night (?)in a fit of...something? Idk. I convinced myself that all my works suck and some other very questionable stuff that seems kind of silly and dramatic in the hot ass daylight now that I’m not calling myself horrible names. But one thing hasn’t changed, and I’ve given it a lot of thought in the last few hours.</p><p>I’m going to rewrite this.</p><p>i know what you’re thinking. “But Kim, you’ve already rewritten it once already!” and I say, “Hell yeah I have, and hell yeah I’m doing it again!”<br/><br/></p><p>See, that’s sort of a thing writers do. Sometimes they rewrite things over and over until they like it- it’s called a draft. V1 was the first draft, and this is the second; and I decided that this one, while superior, still needs a lot of work.</p><p>I’m not taking this down. Hell, I’m not even going to restart a new one. Instead I’m going to rework it a bit; add things in some chapters to flush it out better and maybe take out other things completely.</p><p>BUT THERE IS GOOD NEWS and other stuff; Specifically for you peeps who’ve been with me the whole time.<br/><br/></p><p>1) I’m taking suggestions. Stuff you would have loved to see in some of the earlier chapters? I’m down to write it. For example, maybe you wanted to see what was in the journal? Or maybe you just wanted to see/read more lore? Hell yeah, hit me up boi! I’m down for some sweet, sweet world building!</p><p>2) if there was anything that didn’t make sense to you- plz point it out? Sometimes I can’t keep up with what I’ve written and what I’ve thought privately to myself and it’s hard to keep up with it. I’m a depressed person with ADHD and it shows in some of the more...bleh parts.</p><p>3!)I repeat (and I cannot stress this enough) I AM NOT TAKING THIS DOWN. I’m going to keep it up and, if you’re one of those people who reread things, you might even notice it changing over time- you crazy awesome bastards you!</p><p>so the next time you see me update this story/series, it’ll be me finally saying “Heck yeah bois, check this out! Kim is back!”</p><p> </p><p>thanks for listening to my TEDtalk, peace out yo!</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0025"><h2>25. HIATUS OVER (and other news)</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Right, so, First!</p><p>I am so, so, sorry guys! For all of you who don’t know, I’ve got the final rewrite out. It’s called “Undertale Copy #88: Path to Yellow.“ </p><p>I completely forgot to update you guys, and I am so sorry!</p><p>Second!</p><p>I have a schedule now! Chapters will be put up every week anywhere between Thursday and Saturday.</p><p>(pauses and checks notes)</p><p>Uh...oh! So just a warning, incase you aren’t into this sort of thing; the rewrite is going to be spookier, darker, and have themes that can be considered triggering. Remember the second Omake of this particular story? It’s going to get dark like that. </p><p>That doesn’t mean it won’t have its lighthearted moments either, but I did some deep thinking on these characters I’m writing and came to the conclusion that things are way too nice for dark sanses.</p><p>I'm telling you all this because I know some of you come here for the light hearted, funny stuff. <b>I’m still doing that </b>&lt;—- I don’t know if I can emphasize that any harder- but there will, hold on, <b>THERE WILL BE DARK STUFF. </b>Horrible, terrible things- not for the sake of “here let’s make you cry” but strictly for the characters development. <br/><br/></p><p>I know what you’re thinking, “But Kim, why don’t you just put it in the tags?” Because nothing has happened yet and I really don’t want to spoil things (though I did make sure to put “Creator chose not to put archive warnings” instead of saying no warnings apply.)<br/><br/></p><p>anyway, I’m starting to ramble so I’ll cut myself off here. NEW VERSION IS OUT, CHARACTERS WILL BE DIFFERENT (again), AND I HOPE YOU GIVE IT A CHANCE but am not expecting you to hurt yourselves on triggering bits just to know what Finally happens.</p><p> </p><p>Hope to see you guys around!</p><p> </p><p>-KimberlyLikesCherries.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><div class="children module" id="children">
  <b class="heading">Works inspired by this one:</b>
  <ul>
    <li>
        <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/24081970">The Papyrus Cult</a> by <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/users/EclipseStoryWritter/pseuds/EclipseStoryWritter">EclipseStoryWritter</a>
    </li>
    <li>
        <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/24731188">Near Yet Faraway</a> by <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/users/ShepherdV2/pseuds/ShepherdV2">ShepherdV2</a>
    </li>
  </ul>
</div></div></div>
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